Have You Passed Through This Night?
by RJF
Summary: Phoebe-centric short story that follows on from my trilogy. When fighting a group of harpies and saving an innocent becomes more complicated than first thought, Phoebe finds herself facing her own insanity and darkness within.
1. Part I

_So let me explain what the deal is with this. Originally, this was going to be a one-shot, but I felt the whole thing was getting far too long and far too disjointed to enjoy in one sitting. I was really struggling with how to make it as engaging as I felt it was in the beginning, and then a brilliant idea was suggested to me: I make it a short story rather than a one-shot. So, this is Phoebe's "one-shot" spread over a few chapters that are shorter than my usual output. Hope you enjoy, guys. We're nearly at the end of the road with my love affair with this fandom._

**Have You Passed Through This Night? - Part I  
**

_The smell. It always started with the smell of blood._

_It always felt like her arms were chained to the throne, but the only thing that was stopping her from getting up was the fact her fingers were curled tightly around the end of the arms, reluctant to let go. It always felt like she was sitting on hot coals burning her skin, but she also felt the power positively thrumming from her body. She sat in darkness, tethered to this malevolent pedestal only by her own twisted desires, all alone._

_But it never stayed that way for long._

_Her vision adjusted as small globes of fire began to illuminate her surroundings. The heat intensified. It was demon upon demon of every shape and form that bowed in front of her, every single one of them holding a swirling sphere of flames between their hands, or talons, or tentacles, or suspending them in mid-air with the power of their mind. It was the most terrifying, flattering thing she had ever seen. She knew this corrupt vigil was in her honour; she had learned after seeing this happen so many times._

_Deathly silent, all of them, their demonic chaos quelled by her very presence in the Deep Underworld where the black, dank, and endless ceiling reached up into nothing but the sky of shadows and the demons that came with them. She was afraid for a moment that all the light would disturb what lurked above them, moving them to attack, but that was quickly snuffed by a wave of arrogance: they wouldn't dare touch her._

_And then he was there. The creature who wore the entrance to oblivion for a face. He always seemed to get taller every time she saw him, towering over the entire throne before the long, sharp spikes of his gleaming silver helmet took over and extended his form even further. The Source of All Evil stood before her, floating slightly off the ground and backed by the gentle hellfire the other demons were providing. He was easily three times her height. He could finish her easily without powers, crush her in the gauntlets he wears on his arms that are louder than thunder when they clash. If there was ever a way to go, it would be this._

_But instead, he always knelt down to her. She could touch the prongs of his helmet if she wanted._

_And then every time, despite knowing what was coming, she stared straight into the true being that was contained by metal and shadow before her. The gaping pit that the helmet was there to protect was all that she could see. The heat was getting stronger. There was a roar, followed by a familiar scream, before the two noises became one tireless entity shredding her mind to pieces. Evil pulsed from his face, distorting her view. And the heat grew, and grew, and grew until she was nothing but darkness and fire...

* * *

_

"Hello, Ms. Matthews, it's Addison Taylor here. You're obviously not at your desk at three in the morning, but I'm just leaving a message to let you know I've signed and sent the paperwork back to you for the refurbishment. I appreciated the phone call as opposed to just getting a contract through my door with no explanation…"

Addison Taylor pinched the bridge of the nose, his eyes hurting from the harshness of his desk lamp, not from being up this late. He was always up this late; this was his best time to paint.

"Anyway, uh…never hesitate to call if you need anything else."

He was terrible at wrapping up phone calls. She had always said so.

"Bye?"

He had not meant for it come out sounding like a question, but it had and it was too late now. The phone was dropped like it suddenly burned the artist's hand, falling to the desk with a too-loud clatter for this time of night. He quickly reached the light switch and returned the room to the dim illumination of the tiny lamp that shone on his current canvas. Addison sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking through the skylight to the gloomy sky he was there. It was not a good night for inspiration.

The painter was just about to return to his canvas when he noticed something in the darkness above him. Something moving. As it got closer, it became clear that it was several things descending upon the ceiling. Three large birds, it seemed, all of which had now stopped flapping their wings and were now on a free-fall towards him. The last thing Addison saw before glass and snow rained down on him was a flash of talons and fierce crimson eyes upon him. He got up from his chair and he ran.

The moment he hit the stairs, Addison had grabbed for the railing and then his head from the sudden high-pitched screeching that sounded even worse when trapped in a narrow corridor. Frantic shadows alerted him to the fact that his intruders were on the move, along with the fact the horrific noise was only getting louder, drowning out the noise of flapping wings. He practically threw himself down his stairs, not expecting to find company at the bottom.

"What the hell? Get outta here!"

The older woman out of the two ignored him, "Where are they?"

"What?"

The question was answered when a rough thud against the wall alerted all three of them to the sudden presence of the creature on the stairwell. Addison was not prepared for what he saw in the faint light from his studio, silhouetting whatever it was perfectly at the top of the stairs.

Its talons dug into the stair it was on, the tough scaly feet tensing to maintain their grip on the flat surface. Upwards from there, it seemed like the figure of a slender woman at first before the fact her body was covered in feathers caught your attention. Wings instead of arms and a sharp, angular face in place of soft features that seemed give the bottom part of her face beak-like qualities. It was the most hideous thing Addison had ever seen.

He did not have time to dwell on such a matter, because soon the creature was joined by her two allies and all three were swooping down towards him, squawking and screeching with their talons heading straight for his chest.

What happened next happened in a matter of seconds. He was suddenly pulled out of the way, allowing the younger woman of the two to somehow front-flip on the stairs and plough both her feet into the chest of the creature leading the flock. There was a scream of pain before all three beasts were thrown back up the stairs from the force of the kick, the first knocking the other two back like bowling pins. As the leader was stuck in a hole made in the wall by her impact, the woman brought something out of her pocket and threw it at her enemy, causing Addison's eyes to widen even more as bright blue flames consumed his attacker, leaving nothing but a scorched hole in the wall and faint sounds of screeching upstairs.

"Get after them. I'm right behind you."

The blonde woman nodded and bolted up the rest of stairs, leaving Addison with his other saviour as she gently turned him round and pulled him off the stairs completely.

"It's okay. Just stay here and we'll take care of it, alright?"

What followed were a few tense minutes of noises coming from his study that he would rather not know any more about. He took a small comfort in the fact that it was not human screams he was hearing, and the fighting seemed to be dying. There was a shout, the sound of glass smashing and finally the dissipating shriek of whatever had just tried to kill him.

A couple minutes after that and the two women emerged on the stairs, the blonde with a cut lip and a jacket now drenched in blood from a wound on her shoulder and older brunette nursing a shallow cut on her cheek. The former of the two slowly sat down on the stairs, wincing at the movement.

"I'm driving home." The other woman told her, before turning back to Addison, "Okay, we took care of those things. They were harpies, by the way. Oh! And we cleaned up the room upstairs and fixed your skylight. Don't ask us how, because you're not going to remember any of this anyway." She stared straight into his eyes and gently held his head in her hands.

"What?"

A soft white bulb of light suddenly sparked into life from her forehead, and when Addison woke up in the morning, slumped on his desk, the last thing he remembered about the night before was looking up into the sky.

* * *

The town of Cedarburg had been laid to siege by harpies. Only it did not know about it.

The general consensus of Phoebe's household was that the harpies had a nest somewhere deep in the woods that filled the valley the house was built in; living off the occasional bear or deer and never really causing any harm or trouble, therefore avoiding harm and trouble themselves. Harpies rarely hunted as they were able to make one meal last for weeks among an entire nest, not bothered by whether or not it was rotting to its core.

Something must have disturbed this rather peaceful way of life and forced them to the town for food. Phoebe had read in the Book of Shadows that harpies hunted with their minds and not with any of their primal senses. With ambient telepathic abilities, they found their prey through their brain activity which explained why they had fled to the town instead of the Mulwray house, which was much closer. There were only five human minds a couple dozen animal minds to sense at the farm. Cedarburg boasted a population of nearly six thousand which would be a din to anyone with telepathy. It was easier to see which would be the more rewarding hunting grounds.

These weren't the humanoid harpies Phoebe had tangled with before either. Bestial and vicious, the harpies that lived in the woods were the incarnation of every legend and piece of folklore that ever spoke of them. But perhaps the most frightening idea of all was that the middle Charmed One was able to fight them. All because of the choices she had made years ago…

"You okay?" Jordann asked, "You seem kind of quiet." She took her eyes off the dark, slushy road for a second to look in Phoebe's direction. With her heightened senses and accelerated reflexes, Jordann could probably stare at her passenger for the entire car journey without them landing in any kind of danger. She healed fast as well and had jumped into the driver's seat before Phoebe could say anything, regardless of her injury.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Phoebe replied airily, shooting her a small smile.

Jordann looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "Liar. When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

She responded with just as much fervour, "When was the last time _you_ had a good night's sleep?"

The younger woman's mouth was momentarily agape before it turned into a smirk, "Alright then."

They travelled along the road in silence for a few more miles, going as fast as the slippery surface would allow. Phoebe truly hated this time of year here; the winter was a mix of frigid blizzards and sometimes even colder rainstorms, both coming together and turning the entire state into frozen basin of torment for three months.

"You know, the Power of Three can vanquish the queen of a harpy nest if you-,"

"No." Was the curt response, before the middle Charmed One leaned forward to twist some knobs on the dashboard and turn the heat up further.

There was a reason Phoebe's favourite flower had become a daffodil since they had moved here.

* * *

_And then every time, despite knowing what was coming, she stared straight into the true being that was contained by metal and shadow before her. The gaping pit that the helmet was there to protect was all that she could see. The heat was getting stronger. There was a roar, followed by a familiar scream, before the two noises became one tireless entity shredding her mind to pieces. Evil pulsed from his face, distorting her view. And the heat grew, and grew, and grew until-_

"Phoebe!"

She was able to brace herself against the glass of the shower cubicle before her feet fell out from under her. The hot water was pounding against her back, wounds from last night were stinging, her ears were ringing, and it took her far too long to register the fact her husband was banging on the door, shouting panicked questions. None of this helped ease his anxiety, which Phoebe could feel practically pouring through the bathroom door.

"Phoebe! You okay? I heard you screaming."

Phoebe rolled her eyes tiredly, leaning back into the powerful spray of the shower and wiping her hands across her face several times, "Sorry!" She called back eventually, only now realising her throat was dry, "I dropped the shampoo bottle on my toe."

The worry she could sense began to fade as Brennan walked away from the door and Phoebe sighed quietly, losing herself in the dull throb of the cuts and scrapes she had not cleaned properly last night out of exhaustion and choosing instead to flop into bed. It was not as if this action had benefited her, however. Sleep was something they all seemed to be struggling with in the house recently.

The fact that she was now dreaming while awake could not be a good sign.

She came down to the kitchen fully dressed to find it at its usual level of bustle for a weekday morning. Brennan and Jordann moved around each other in a well practiced dance of retrieving things from the fridge and getting dishes down the cupboards, all without bumping into each other once. Connor sat at the island in the middle of the room; his legs swinging off the side of the tall stool as he took large spoonfuls of porridge, grimacing after each one. It was a hot meal that would keep him warm in the car ride to school, his parents told him, but the seven-year-old had never been able to get past the taste.

"How's the driveway? Are we going have trouble getting out?"

Brennan nodded, taking another mouthful of his own porridge and showing Phoebe just where her son got his disgusted expression from, "It starting snowing again about ten minutes after you guys got in last night. You were lucky; it sounds like the roads were closing up as just as you got home. You cut it pretty close."

"And not just with the snow either." Jordann added, stirring a boiling pot she had on the hob, "If we had been a minute later last night, that guy wouldn't have been in one piece when we got there."

"But we weren't late, and we vanquished all three harpies, _and_ we saved the innocent." Phoebe countered, "And perhaps more importantly, _we_ were in one piece after it was all over. I'd say it was one of the more successful harpy interceptions of the past few weeks, especially given the fact we barely had any time to react to my premonition."

"Oh, yeah." Brennan mused, "What triggered that anyway?"

Phoebe shrugged, "I was clearing out all the newspapers on the coffee table and I touched one of the programs Paige gave me about her gallery. The guy we saved last night had some kind of art studio, so I guess that was the connection."

"Or maybe it was the powers that be trying to tell you that talking to your sisters-,"

"Jordann already tried this last night." The Charmed One cut him off, watching Jordann triumphantly smirk as she tended her to concoction on the stove, "And the answer is still no. We can handle this ourselves. We have enough of the potion to keep us going for at least another week-,"

"I'm making some more right now." Jordann chirped up,

"-and the snow is supposed to let up sometime around then, and when it does, we can go into the forest and storm the nest. It's just an endurance test."

"It's just you being stubborn..." Brennan murmured, raising his coffee cup to his lips.

Phoebe gave him a baleful glare before her expression turned to concern, "How's my little girl this morning?"

Brennan sighed sadly, casting his eyes into the living room, "She's still got a fever and her throat is still sore. I think we should probably give her a few more days."

His wife nodded in agreement, "Alright."

"No fair!" Connor suddenly exclaimed, his frown barely visible underneath his shaggy hair. "Faith doesn't need to go to school _again_?" He pouted, playing with the cold porridge at the bottom of the bowl with his spoon, "Wish _I_ was sick..."

"No, you don't." Phoebe responded instantly, arching one eyebrow, "You remember how much you hated having tonsillitis? Now, go and brush your teeth and check if your sister needs anything. We're leaving in five minutes."

"Man..." Her eldest whined, slipping off the barstool and leaving the room, lightly kicking his school backpack which lay at the edge of the doorway on his way out.

"Okay, I'm gonna get the car warmed up." Brennan announced, taking one last gulp of coffee before swinging his thick coat around his shoulders and following his son's lead, giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek as he passed her. There was a brief blast of cold air as the front door was opened, but it was quickly chased off by the heat of the house as the door was closed again.

Phoebe turned her eyes to Jordann, "Look, I hate to ask this again, but-,"

"I didn't have anything to do today even before the weather made things impossible." The hare feral looked up from the potion pot with a smile, "Besides, even if I did, making sure Faith is alright is more important. I'll see if I can maybe get her in a bath later. It might help bring her fever down a little."

The elder witch's shoulders lost their tension and she smiled back, "Thanks."

Contrary to his apparent attitude on the matter, Phoebe found Connor giving his little sister a light kiss on the top of her head before he rushed upstairs to complete his morning routine, which used to be just wetting his toothbrush and mouth before his parents got wise to this a week into his deception. Now, his teeth were checked every morning before he went out the door.

Faith lay on the sofa in the living room, practically entombed in walls of pillows and blankets and looking at the cartoons on the television with a vacant stare. Phoebe looked down at her three year old daughter, her heart aching with sympathy and pain. Her soft chestnut hair was sticking to her sweaty forehead from the fever and her cheeks were flushed, yet somehow she looked pale at the same time. This flu had been a slow build; it had started with Faith becoming eerily quiet a few days just before her fever arose. Now, her breathing was laboured from a blocked nose and sore throat and she spent the majority of the day sleeping.

"Morning, sweetie..." Phoebe murmured, kneeling down next to the sofa and gently brushing Faith's hair away from her face, "Where does it hurt?"

Faith simply raised her arm and tapped her forehead; her lips pouting in a way that made Phoebe think she had passed it on to both her children. She sighed at this answer.

"Me too." She agreed quietly.

It was always a sudden burst when this happened; it helped that she was already on her knees. A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly pulsed through Phoebe's head and she all but collapsed on the sofa. She could suddenly feel Faith's fever creeping up on her, causing her to shiver and sweat almost instantly. She felt Connor's glee at his own ingenuity as he wet his toothbrush, followed by a sudden litany of pulsing from the kitchen.

And, as always, it was over in a flash, leaving Phoebe bracing herself against the sofa for a few seconds before she got to her feet, Faith looking up at her with knowing eyes that she was almost afraid to return. Her power fluctuations were only getting worse. She had been lucky so far, but her powers were not completely passive. What if she-?

"Are you okay, Phoebe?" Jordann asked, frowning curiously as she came out the kitchen to find the middle Charmed One looking slightly shell-shocked.

She recovered quickly, "Yeah, I'm fine." Phoebe replied with a smile, "What about you?" She returned the question, the train of thought she had heard in her mind seconds ago replaying in her head, "Are _you_ okay?"

Jordann seemed even more confused, "Uh... yeah?"

"Good. That's... good. Connor!"

"Yeah?" The voice came from upstairs.

"_Brush_ your teeth!"

"Aw, _man_!"

* * *

Her home life was odd, Phoebe decided, but in a good way.

Before moving away, she and Brennan had already decided they would be detached owners of the farmland that the house was in the centre of. Both had different passions, with Phoebe becoming a school counsellor, and Brennan opening his own auto-shop. They would keep on the current staff, but neither of them felt comfortable not having a proper pair of eyes over something that was essentially their business. Before Pamela had left the country, she had mentioned that her friend, Jordann, was opting out of her final year at college and needed something to do with her life until she decided her next path. A prey animal feral, Jordann was perfect for the job they required. And if their niece trusted this girl, then they trusted her too.

It was not long before a pattern in their living developed, with Jordann becoming as much a nanny and a friend as much as she was their eyes on the farm. Phoebe had initially thought it would be strange to bring someone who was essentially a stranger in to live with her family, but now, she thought, the five of them had moulded into each other, merely becoming a bigger family. Jordann seemed perfectly happy to stay, and Phoebe and Brennan were perfectly happy to have her. What was meant to be a brief period of time to get things arranged had become a way of life, it seemed. But the most important thing was that it worked, if for nothing else than for the fact that, since the house was rather far away from town, having a different person to talk other than your husband and your young children to was never a bad thing.

Especially now that she was not talking to her sisters.

A knock on her office door snapped Phoebe out of her musings and she tore her eyes away from the light grey sky that promised more snow this evening. She put one leg over the other and cleared her throat, returning to a state of professionalism, "Come in."

Ryan McIntyre heavy eyes caught hers as he entered her office and she adopted a stern but friendly expression. He was Phoebe's latest teenage enigma. He had moved into town just a month ago, and already he was being sent to her. Phoebe felt it was more a case of teachers overreacting to new-school jitters, and getting sent to the school counsellor was not helping matters at all. Nevertheless, this was her job, and humouring the teachers was just as big a part of that as helping the students was.

"Ryan..." Phoebe began as he dropped down on the chair on the other side of her desk. "How are you?"

He avoided her gaze and glowered at the floor instead. She found herself classifying his type the moment she had met him. Drowning in his own hoodie, eyes looking like he hadn't slept in days, and a face that would probably shatter if he were to smile. Classic troubled, melodramatic teen who's finding high school just a little bit harder than the rest of the kids.

"Well?"

He rolled his eyes, "Look, even after a month, you and I both know how this goes. You give me the 'keep your chin up' speech, I say I'll stop acting like a weirdo, and we both get out of here before four o'clock. Can we please just cut to the chase?"

Phoebe smiled wryly, "Man, you have got me down a tee." She leant back in her chair a little, "Except I'm kind of getting tired of the chin speech. Especially since it doesn't seem to be helping you at all and, despite the cliché, I _am_ here to help you above everything else." She found students always appreciated it if you recognised they did not want to be there. "High school is hell; I get that. Believe me, I do. But it does help to talk about it."

"I find it hard to believe that anyone who poses in beachwear for 415 found high school _difficult_." Ryan scoffed.

The middle Charmed One inwardly groaned. The magazine shoot she had done in promotion for advice column years ago had somehow ended up doing the rounds around the school in the past few months. It had angered her, partially because it severely damaged her credibility, but more because she had never intended on the entire school knowing she had a tattoo on her navel.

"Look, Ryan, you're a good kid." She continued, side-stepping the magazine issue. "Good grades, were excellent at Track at your old school, all your teachers raved about you. Why has this all changed here? I know the place is a frozen wasteland for a lot of the year but you kids _love_ snow! The faculty get pelted with enough snowballs in the morning to prove that."

The side of his mouth curled into a smile just a little, and Phoebe took that as a small victory, eager to continue the momentum, "Not to mention, the more and more you end up in my office, the more and more I don't _understand_. I mean, your first week here, and you pick a fight with a guy twice your size, and then the week after that you're in detention for arguing with your Geometry teacher, who has actually been one of the few on your _side_, by the way. And now you're having daily sessions with me. Why has it come to this?"

Ryan's jaw clenched, finding it hard to look her in the eye. Phoebe was on a roll.

"Look, all I want are some answers, Ryan. You may think I'm pretty useless but you never know; I might be able to help."

The teenager in front of her sighed and began to chew his bottom lip. His eyes began to catch the light a little more as he welled up for a moment, Phoebe thought she was finally going to get the truth as to why this perfectly rounded kid had began to act so strangely. There were a few moments of tense silence before their eyes met once again.

"...I can't. I'm sorry."

She smiled sadly but warmly at this, "Okay... Just let me go and get the paperwork."

* * *

It was dark by the time Phoebe had caught up completely with all of her outstanding work. She had left her office in a rush the previous evening out of sheer exasperation at her day. Between the fact she had not slept properly for nearly a month, the nightmares when she did sleep, and the harpies, the middle Charmed One's overall mood had crashed in the past few weeks. She was paying the price now; however, as she looked up at the clock on her wall as she finished up, groaning when it seemed to be nearly dinner time. Hurriedly packing up, she left.

The parking lot was already lost to the bitter chill of a Wisconsin winter night. Phoebe tightened her scarf as she finished putting her gloves on, already looking forward to turning the heater onto full in her car. That was until she was forced to stop in the middle of the lot, her rummaging through her purse becoming more and more desperate as it seemed her car keys were nowhere to be found.

"Man..."

She stormed down the empty halls back to her office and snapped the light on once again. Setting her purse down on the seat opposite her own, the witch walked around her desk and instantly began displacing everything in the hope of finding her ticket home.

It was during this shuffling of papers and folders she was flung into an intense premonition.

_Ryan stood in the centre of the basketball court of the high school, breath swirling around in the air in front of him and his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his hoodie. He looked up at the dim, amber lighting on the field, lightly going from one foot to the other as he struggled to keep warm. The soft crunching noise this made in the newly fallen snow was the only sound to be heard. His gaze slowly came away from the light and went to the dark sky beyond. He was expectant; waiting for something to happen._

_And, as always with harpies, they were heard before they were seen. Distant screeching became louder and louder before dense, moving shapes could be made out against the slightly lighter sky. About ten of them, more than Phoebe had ever seen together all practically dive-bombing the court and screaming until it felt as if her ears were going to bleed. Ryan's eyes widened at the sight of his attackers and he could only curl up on the ground to protect himself as his screams and the harpies' became indistinguishable..._

Phoebe's hands gripped her desk tightly for a few moments before she flew into action and grabbed her cellphone from her pocket. There was no time to waste.

"Brennan, you still at work? Good. Get over to the school and get me at the basketball court _now_. The harpies are about to attack again."

* * *

The snow had begun to fall once again as Phoebe pushed open the fire exit that led out into the school's courtyard. The thick snow that had been falling throughout the day did not help matters by muffling any noise. The only thing Phoebe could hear were her footsteps crunching hurriedly against the frosty ground beneath them as she headed for the gymnasium and for the back door that granted access to the outside activities area. Her bad leg was already throbbing from the exertion.

The distant screeching was already making her ears ring as she came outside again, seeing the object of her premonition act out everything she had seen him do. Small glints from the harpies' eyes catching the amber lighting were brought to Phoebe's attention and she just about charged through the metal gate to get there in time.

"Ryan, run!"

He spun around, facing his counsellor with a wide-eyed expression of shock just as a harpy rushed him from behind. Phoebe, thinking fast, jumped into the air with the aid of her levitation power and tackled the beast out of the air in mid-flight, cushioning her own landing by landing on her enemy on the way down.

It was not even stunned. The harpy's powerful wings flew forwards, knocking Phoebe into the air and mirroring the descent she had just caused a few seconds ago. Her head hit the ground hard, and she felt the dizziness take hold as she attempted to sit up. The hideous creature was already looming over her, wings almost encompassing her completely as it raised one of its talons and made for her throat.

Razor-sharp claws managed to get close enough to leave a shallow cut in the witch's neck before the harpy was knocked back by the force of a psionic blast Phoebe had produced at the last moment. There was a sudden wave of heat as the demon caught fire in the air, reducing it to nothing but a swirling cloud of ashes before it hit the ground.

The rest of the group's reaction was ungodly. The screaming became even more intense and despite her urgings for him to escape, Phoebe saw Ryan had dropped to his knees beside her, clutching the sides of his head and grimacing from near-supersonic wail. She felt his hand around her arm, attempting to drag her up to her feet so they could both escape before he succumbed to the pain in his head and slumped against her.

The swift, brutal crackle of lightning streaking past their eyes silenced the harpies almost instantly as another was struck and vanquished. Another flew by seconds after, felling a second, and Phoebe had never been more grateful to hear the heavy thudding of her husband's steel-toe capped boots pounding against the ground.

"Phoebe!" Brennan shouted from outside, gripping the metal fence that encircled the court tightly, sparks flying from his hands. "Hit the deck!"

She did not need to be told twice. Dragging Ryan down to a safe level too, Phoebe scrunched her eyes up from the brightness as the crackle of electricity once again filled the air and Brennan ignited the entire metal fence. The harpies, already either swooping at or hovering around the court, were all caught the massive blast of electricity pulsing from the basketball court, their screams once and for lost in the roar of lightning that ended them.

Phoebe brought her hand away from her closed eyes just in time to see tendrils of fire drip from spots in the buzzing air just above her head. She turned to Ryan just as he began to wake up, eyes moving around slowly at first before snapping open completely and darting about his surroundings, still reeling from what had just happened.

"And now for the phrase I've heard far too many times..." She murmured to herself as Brennan approached her. She pulled Ryan to his feet, having to hold him steady against another wave of dizziness. Phoebe groaned as a clinking against the ground alerted her that something had fallen out of his pocket from the movement and looked down to see if it was something worth bending down for.

It turned out that her car keys were indeed worth it.

"We have to get out of here." Her husband said breathlessly, oblivious to what she had just discovered.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

_The next few chapters are ready to go; I'll probably upload them every five days or so. Don't forget to review!_


	2. Part II

**Have You Passed Through This Night? - Part II  
**

Ryan had completely passed out on the way to Phoebe's car so they quickly strapped him into the backseat and started their journey home. Brennan drove, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. He was clearly itching to say something, and even through the pounding headache the harpies had left her with, she could sense his frustration and anger radiating off him like something tangible. She was grateful for the silence, as tense as it was.

Jordann asked, "How many?"

"Twenty maybe? Definitely fifteen at the least." Brennan replied, his eyes flickering to the boy currently unconscious on his living room sofa.

"And you vanquished _all_ of them? Impressive."

"Gotta love conductive materials." He said, tapping the metallic kitchen sink with a small smile before returning to the problem at hand. "That was too close though; if neither of us had been so close, that kid would have been shredded. And I've never seen so many of them gathered in one place. It's like it was-,"

"Calculated?" Phoebe interjected, earning a nod from her husband. "Yeah, I think there was a lot of that going on back there."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"...He had my car keys on him when I picked him up." She took a moment for the surprised expressions on both people pass, "The only reason I went back to my office was because I thought I had lost my car keys, and the only reason I got that premonition about Ryan being attacked was because I touched the paperwork on my desk."

The feral across from her arched an eyebrow, "That's a pretty big stretch to make. You're saying he stole your car keys, knowing you would go back to your office, get a premonition about him being attacked, and come to his rescue? He's a teenager. Maybe he was just going to steal your car. Didn't you tell me a while back this kid was trouble?"

"Not grand-theft-auto trouble, though." Phoebe countered, "And it's not just that... During the fight, I didn't sense anything from him. No panic, no absolute terror at suddenly being lynched by demons, no relief when it seemed to be over. Hell, not even any _confusion_ about what the hell was going on! And in my premonition, he was standing in the middle of the basketball court like..."

"Like he was expecting the attack?"

"Like he was expecting to be _saved_."

"What would that make him then?" Brennan wondered, "A witch?"

His wife shrugged, "No idea. But if he was some kind of... psychic, then it would explain why the harpies are after him. With mental power like that, he'd be a giant homing beacon with the way they hunt."

"Then why haven't we had harpies screaming the door down for you?" Jordann replied.

"I... don't know."

"Maybe..." Brennan began, looking through narrowed eyes at his wife, "...you're just not as strong as you think you are."

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means..." He stared straight into her eyes, lips tight. "That I think it's time to call your..."

He trailed off into silence when he noticed that the teenager they had technically kidnapped was now standing in the doorframe of the kitchen. Ryan's face had regained some of its colour and Phoebe didn't know any better, she never would have thought that he had just nearly lost his life to the claws of tens of harpies. That only fuelled her suspicions.

"Why did you steal my car keys?" She snapped, rounding on him with a hardened expression.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." Ryan replied quietly, shaking his head vigorously and dropping his eyes to the floor, trying in vain to stuff his hands even further into his pockets.

"Ryan, you're standing in a room with three _witches_. Two of whom, I might add, just saved you from _harpies_. You'd be pretty shocked at what we'll believe."

Ryan's eyes darted around the three faces that were staring him down for an answer before finally resting on Phoebe's once more. "I... I can tell the future." At their confused expressions, he elaborated. "I knew the harpies were going to come after me, and I knew they would kill me. But then I knew what would happen if I made sure you were nearby when I was attacked, and I knew your husband would be able to vanquish them if I was in the basketball court, so that's where I stayed."

Phoebe's eyes narrowed, "You got all that from _one_ vision?"

He shook his head, "It doesn't work like that. I just..." His lips tightened as he struggled to find the right words, "I just _know_. Every outcome of every action, I know. It's like I have this massive flow chart in my head. I knew what actions would lead me to you and which ones wouldn't, so it was just a matter of following the right path."

"Are you a witch?" Jordann questioned, only getting a shrug in response.

"I didn't even think of it as a power before I came here. I just thought I could read situations really well. It wasn't until I started knowing stuff about harpies and you guys that I realised. It's all pretty new to me..."

"How far into the future can you see? Or know."

"Depends."

"On what?"

Ryan shrugged, "No idea. It's not exactly a sure thing; sometimes I can know what's going to happen ages away and sometimes I don't even know what's going to happen in the next second. I... don't really have any control over it." He finished sheepishly, keeping his eyes low and away from the trio of searching stares that were on him.

Phoebe said, "It's probably because you've never really nurtured it. You can't control a power you're fighting." She gazed straight into his eyes, using her own powers in an attempt to gain more of an insight to the incredibly powerful teenager before her.

Nothing. It was like trying to decipher the emotions of a wall.

That could not be good.

* * *

It would only get worse from there.

Brennan ignored the rolling of the bed as Phoebe got up for the fourth time that night. He listened to her pace over to the window and stand there for a few minutes before coming back to the bed, only to sit up against the headboard, the covers she threw off herself still piled up on her husband next to her. She sighed loudly. Brennan was not going to be lured in that easily. Any night time discussion they had these days ended in an argument about her sisters, and since they currently had one of Phoebe's students seeking asylum from harpies on their living room couch, he was not in the mood at all.

And yet, the words came anyway, "What's wrong?"

The reply was out her mouth before he had even finished, "My powers are gone."

His eyes snapped open and he sat up to look at his wife. Phoebe was staring straight ahead at their closet, her expression eerily peaceful and guarded. Her eyes were heavy with sleep deprivation and something else Brennan couldn't exactly place as she looked at him, giving him a glare that shot right through him regardless of her having powers or not.

"How do you know?

"I think it's been coming for a while now..." She replied airily, "Not been able to sleep for ages, I have a splitting headache, and I haven't sensed your _crushing_ resentment towards me for a while now."

"What?"

"Nothing. I don't feel anything..." Phoebe murmured, as if she had not heard Brennan's question. "I don't hear your thoughts, feel your emotions... Feel _my_ emotions."

"Phoebe..." Brennan sat up properly, clasping his wife's face in his hands and giving her a searching gaze, "What's happened to you?"

She finally drew her eyes away from the wall to look at him directly. Her mouth twisted into a triumphant smirk and even in the dark of the bedroom, Brennan was convinced the black of her eyes was unnatural.

"I'm free." She whispered, and kissed him.

For the few seconds that Brennan held the kiss, it was the taste that made the most striking impression. Phoebe's mouth tasted of ash and smoke and poison. It was cold; colder than anything he had ever felt in his life and he was sure it was not just the temperature of the room. This was not his wife.

He wrenched away from her lips and grabbed her wrists roughly, "What-?"

A pulse of amber-coloured energy suddenly came to life between them and Brennan felt the hot sting of the attack as was thrust towards the wall. He crashed into the brick hard before landing onto the floor with the harsh thud.

Jordann's ears pricked from the sound above her immediately. She had learned a long time ago the difference between the sound of someone sleepily tumbling out of their bed and the sound of trouble. What was happening upstairs was definitely the latter.

She put her mug of hot chocolate down on the kitchen counter (for she had already been awake anyway) and bolted for the stairs, shooting a quick, "Stay here!" at a freshly wakened Ryan, who rose from the sofa instantly with his expression filled with shock and apprehension as she zipped past him.

The smell of smoke assaulted Jordann the moment she hit the staircase. Panic made her heard pound, but it also made her even faster as she flew up each step, her fear growing as the stench grew stronger and stronger. The harpies they had fought so far had had nothing to do with fire, and they had ruled out other demons being involved. What was going on?

"Phoebe! Brennan!"

It was only down to her feral reflexes that she didn't crash into Phoebe in the hallway as she ran out of her bedroom, eyes blown wide with tears and terror. Jordann had to grab her by the arms to stop her from falling to the floor in her hysteria.

"Phoebe! What's going on?"

"I don't know!" She cried, "I don't remember there was the dream and I had a headache and something's happened to Brennan and oh God did I-?"

"Calm down! Where is-?"

"_Ah!_"

Jordann yelped loudly and brought her hands away from Phoebe immediately. She had suddenly become painful to the touch. The hare feral recoiled in pain, clasping her injured hands to her chest as she tumbled against the wall. She could only watch in horror and confusion as Phoebe fell to the floor, wailing and retching, her shoulders shaking from the strain of whatever was happening to her.

Then she went very still.

"Phoebe...?"

The middle Charmed One suddenly pulled back from her crouched position so she was on her knees, hands resting on her thighs. She tossed her hair back and heaved a great sigh, revealing to Jordann the absolute abyss that now lay in her eyes.

Jordann was paralysed with fear against the wall, the only movement being her trembling body. The stench of burning and death was only getting stronger and it reached its peak as Phoebe turned her soulless gaze on her.

"Ah, yes." Phoebe said, shakily rising to her feet, looking at the fellow witch crouched on the floor, "The poor little girl, completely crippled by self-loathing and failure." Her tone was cutting and mocking, "Abandoned by her friends, living like a freeloader with a family that isn't even hers... All out of some sad little urge to not. Fail. Ever. Again."

She had knelt down, getting in Jordann's face so she only had to whisper, "I guess this is going to be another Haliwell you're going to let down. And this is _worse_!" She cackled, "Hell, the other one just walked away with a scar!" Phoebe put her hand over her own heart, "You have _no_ idea what I'm going to do this one."

"Mom?"

Both Phoebe and Jordann's heads whipped around to see Connor standing in the doorway of his bedroom, hand on the door, shaking. Phoebe began to raise her hand...

"NO!" Jordann screamed, finally finding her strength. Even from her crouched position, she was able to land a brutal kick to Phoebe's stomach, sending her crashing through the banister that overlooked the living room just as she fired off a pulse of golden energy from her hand. The kick had landed just in time; the pulse went wide, obliterating a piece of the wall next to Connor's door, leaving the child terrified but unharmed.

"Connor! Go to your sister's room and do not come out until I come for you! _Go_!"

The young boy nodded frantically before running down the hallway and bursting into Faith's room, slamming the door behind them.

Jordann was suddenly aware that Brennan had staggered out of the bedroom, blood trickling down his head and down the back of his neck. He offered the downed feral a hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Where is she?"

His answer came when there was an explosion downstairs. Both mutants went over to the remains of the banister just in time to see Phoebe stride through the smoke billowing from the freshly made hole in the wall where the door had been and walk straight out into the bitter chill of the night. Ryan stood in the centre of the room, looking in the same direction, dumbstruck.

What was happening?

* * *

Now fully dressed, Jordann sat at the bottom of the staircase, wrapping her arms even tighter around herself to try and shield her body from the slicing winter winds coming through the hole Phoebe – or whatever was in Phoebe – had made in her escape. She was angry at her fear and even angrier at her continued shellshock, so she decided she deserved the cold that was now being inflicted upon her.

Ryan, dressed in some of Brennan's winter clothes that were too big for him, sat on the sofa equally stunned, "What just happened here? Was it those harpy things? Phoebe seemed fine earlier!"

_She did_, thought Jordann, _this has come out of nowhere..._

"I mean, do you know what's going on?" He turned to her, his eyes darting around her wildly, desperate for answers, "Like, at all?"

Jordann could only sigh in response, "No..."

Snow was starting to pile up on the floor; the blizzard that had been pounding the area for weeks had started up again in the last hour, assaulting the front of the room and ruining the floorboards, not to mention sending a deep chill throughout the rest of the house. Jordann looked down at her now bandaged hands. They were still so hot from the burn Phoebe's skin had caused, she thought about sticking them into the growing snow drift at the door.

She thought of Brennan with the gash on the back of his head.

She thought of Connor now with a band-aid on his cheek from a flying piece of debris that had him in his lucky escape from his mother.

Then she thought of Ryan...

"She didn't touch you." Jordann growled, standing up.

"What?"

"Five other people in this house and the one she leaves without a scratch is _you_?" She closed in on him, "No offence, but out of everyone here? You're the easiest person to kill by a long shot."

"...Maybe she-I didn't stand in her way. Maybe that's why she-,"

"I don't know if you saw any of my pitiful display up there." Jordann cut him off, backing him onto the sofa and looming over him, "But I didn't really do a lot of standing in anyone's way."

"I-,"

"You were able to see enough of the future to control an _entire_ scenario earlier, and you don't even see _this_ coming? Not at all?"

"I told you-,"

"Sleep."

"W-what? What about it?"

"No one person in this family has had a full night's sleep in two weeks. You're brought here, told that magic is real, told that demons are real and they're after you... And you sleep like a baby. Which means you're either extremely well adjusted or you're immune to whatever is affecting us. And again, no offence, but _no one_ with your power would be well adjusted."

"I'm a heavy sleeper, alright?" Ryan snapped defensively, trying to regain the ground he had lost by standing from the sofa and forcing Jordann to take a step back while getting in her face at the same time, "I told you the truth! I don't know anything else!"

Jordann closed the minuscule gap between them and murmured, "Then why is your heart practically pounding out of your chest?"

Ryan fell silent. His bottom lip trembled and his eyes began to full up, and he broke in what seemed to be the easiest interrogation Jordann had both witnessed and been a part of. Her eyebrows shot up at the sudden breakdown before the teenager fell back onto the sofa, still fighting back tears, "He said he would help me if I planted it..."

"Start talking."

He took a few moments to fight the quiver in his voice before starting, "I had this dream. This... really tall man was there, dressed completely in black and he had this helmet on, but no face..."

Jordann asked, "What did he say to you?"

"He said he would take my powers away if I planted a seed for him in the woods. Something... or someone's Blossom, I can't remember the name. I thought it was just a dream but then I woke up and the seed was next to my bed."

"The woods..." The feral looked confused, before scowling, "The woods outside this house?"

Ryan nodded slowly, "I thought it was over after that, but then he came to my dreams again and asked me to plant another seed... Only this time, it was to be in Phoebe." At Jordann's incredulous, wide-eyed stare, his own eyes bulged to an equal level and he babbled, "No! No! Not like _that_! He gave me another seed and I slipped it into her coffee today."

"What do these seeds do? Or what do they grow into?"

"I don't know."

Jordann snorted, "A guy comes to you in your dreams, and threatens you into planting some seeds, and you don't ask what they do?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably, "It wasn't a threat..."

"I thought you said he threatened to take your powers away! That's a pretty big threat to me!"

The boy's expression went dark and for the first time, anger overcame his fear, "Are you kidding?" He snarled, "It was a _reward_. This isn't a power! It's a disability! I wake up and I don't know what time I'm in, I don't know what's actually happened and what's not happened... At times, I know every possible outcome of every possible situation. So if someone gave me a chance to get free of all that, then yeah, I would jump at it!"

Jordann recoiled slightly and as Ryan's face fell into his hands, her expression softened. He was freely crying now, hunched over with his fingers gripping his hair tightly as he did his best to control his sobs. But despite her newfound sympathy for the boy, she pressed on.

"You know what the worst thing is, Ryan? We would have helped you. We know how you feel, and if you had come to us instead of going against us, if you had used the information your _powers_ gave you, then this never would have happened."

Ryan continued to sob, but he was quieter now.

Jordann quickly controlled her expression as Connor bounded down the stairs, now dressed as if he was about to go outside and brave a blizzard in an attempt to stay warm in the house. Normally, he would boast about the size of the band-aid on his face, but given how he had got injured in the first place, it was no time for celebration.

Brennan frowned at the scene in the living room as he came down the stairs with Faith in his arms, both father and daughter wrapped up tightly against the cold, "What's going on?" He asked, eyes cast to Ryan's back.

It was at this that Ryan looked up and shot a pleading look at Jordann. She looked back, failing to understand for a moment before she realised.

Ryan had seen what Brennan was capable of at the basketball court. And that had been when he was only _protecting_ his wife. Imagine what he'd do to the person who had caused her to attack their son and run off into a blizzard!

"Just some home truths." She replied, "Although he seems to have picked some info out of the ether."

"Oh?"

Jordann quickly got him up to speed with everything she had learned, glossing over the parts about Ryan's more active involvement. The nature of his power left her with a lot of scope for lying, but that did not stop the trembling teenager on the sofa from staring at her fearfully as she spoke.

"I'm going after her."

The hare feral's face dropped, "You're not serious."

Brennan sighed and gave a suggestive nod to the kitchen, leaving the children on the sofa huddling for warmth as they moved the conversation away from them.

"There's nothing else we can do and we're just useless sitting here. I know these woods like the back of my hand, even at night, and I can use a tracking spell so I'm not just wandering around with no direction."

"What do you mean there's nothing else we can do? Do you even have a plan?" She exclaimed, "How about calling her sisters? Why has _that_ not been done yet?"

"I tried." Brennan replied flatly. "Them and Pam too. Calling them, summoning them... Something is blocking out any way of contacting other people. Whatever took over Phoebe, whatever is planted in her, is powerful." He caught the fear in her eyes, "Jordann, I'll be fine. I can reach her, I know I can. I'll bring her back; I promise."

"You can't _promise_ something like that!" Jordann snapped back. "If you couldn't reach her when that thing didn't have complete control, what makes you think you can now that its marched her out into a blizzard in nothing but her pyjamas? You might not bring her back! You might not bring _yourself_ back!" She run a hand through her blonde hair, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, "I can't... I can't protect everyone here, Brennan! I'm not strong enough. What if she comes back? What if whoever she's working with comes here? I can't! I just can't!"

"Jordann..." Brennan gently took hold of her shoulders, "Tonight, my wife has tried to kill me, my son, and you. She's blasted a giant hole in our house, run off into the woods looking for some flower and I'm about to go after her in one of the worst blizzards of the year... And I am leaving my children in _your_ care. Do you not understand how much I believe in you?"

Jordann's mouth fell open at this declaration, and she was pretty sure she would only fail to live up to the absolute trust that she could now see in Brennan's face as he silently begged her to be strong enough to help him. She still did not believe that she had it in her, but there was absolutely nothing else to be done. She smiled at him weakly and let go of the breath she had been holding since her confession, genuinely touched.

"I do now." She answered breathlessly, before rolling her eyes and pulling him into a crushing hug, "For the love of God, bring her _and_ yourself back in one piece."

After a quick goodbye to his children, Brennan was gone.

"Thank you." Ryan croaked quietly as Jordann watched outside until Brennan vanished into the gloomy white haze completely, "You know, for not telling him."

Jordann spun round and glared, "The only reason I didn't tell him is that it would have only made things worse. Ironically enough, you destroyed the only person under this roof that would have had sympathy for your situation."

She moved to the fireplace to get it started, and did not say another word.

* * *

_Sorry for being late with this update! Totally forgot it had been over a week! Enjoy._


	3. Part III

**Have You Passed Through This Night? – Part III**

Part of her always thought she would end up here.

Phoebe stood in a thin pillar of dim light that stretched higher and lower than she could see. It only illuminated her enough so she could see herself, but nothing else. All she could see was darkness in every direction, denser than any dark she had ever known and blacker than the emptiest sky. If it was not for the prism of light she was under, there would be no difference between closing her eyes and keeping them open. It was when everything was gone and absolutely nothing remained.

There was no telling how long it stretched on for; it could have ended just out of Phoebe's reach or it could have gone on forever. No visible ceiling or floor; the light stretched so far in both directions that it eventually faded from view, hitting nothing on its path. The middle Charmed One could not even tell what she was standing on. It felt like nothing underneath her bare feet.

She had given up on screaming. Her voice had not even echoed, suggesting there was nothing for it to bounce off of. With a final, quiet sigh, Phoebe dropped down, hugged her knees and wept.

It was then that the darkness spoke back.

Phoebe couldn't make out any words, but the hushed whispers were an unmistakable human noise. She looked around the inky blankness, still seeing nothing. But now she thought – either out of paranoia or genuine sighting – that the darkness was _moving_.

A face appeared from the gloom and Phoebe gasped in fright, recoiling and hitting the invisible force field that kept her within the light. Pale skin, eyes dull and lifeless from being down in the dark for so long. A woman, it ended up being. Blonde and dressed in clothes that were probably smart if the darkness had not claimed their zest as well. She hissed in pain, bringing her hand up to shield her eyes from the glow of Phoebe's sanctuary and prison.

Phoebe shakily took to her feet once more, "Who are you?"

The woman brought her hand down, revealing her newly adjusted eyes. Her pupils had shrunk considerably, unveiling the icy, electric blue of her eyes. She gave the middle Charmed One a small smile.

"It's okay, Phoebe." She murmured softly in a voice that sounded as worn as the rest of her, "I'm here to help you."

* * *

The blizzard had thankfully stopped once Brennan had reached the edge of the woods. Not that it made much of a difference. Between the numerous snowstorms and the countless times snow had tumbled from branches that could no longer hold its weight, the mutant was trudging through at least a foot of snow as he followed the tiny lilac light he had conjured to lead him to Phoebe.

The winter gear Brennan had, at its most extreme, was not prepared for both the cold and the depth of the snow. His second pair of thermal socks had given into snow ten minutes ago and his feet were now frozen and damp. His gloves were in a similar way from clearing snow out of the way when it was simply too deep to step into. He began to compose spells for heat and weather manipulation. He would never cast them as the chance of a personal gain backfire was too high, but it kept his mind occupied. If he thought of Phoebe or the cold, he would perish.

_Just follow the light, just follow the light... _

He was thankful that the locator globe he had conjured was also aware of his speed, and therefore meandered along in front of him at a similar pace rather than zooming through the trees and becoming utterly useless.

_I'm getting too old for this_, Brennan thought, _and sleep deprived_.

He trudged on for another half hour, his pace slowing to a crawl before the light he had been following suddenly flickered and died, and Brennan could hear the faint sound of voices in the darkness.

"...different. I sensed it before. I don't think he'll be finished off as easily as you think."

Brennan edged closer to the sound of his wife's voice as silently as he could before he saw her back. Still in her pyjamas, Brennan shivered in sympathy before taking in the rest of the situation.

Phoebe stood before a figure who was nearly double her own height. In his fatigue, Brennan had nearly mistaken him for a tree. He wore a cloak that trailed in the snow like roots, and a worn iron helmet which had spikes like bare branches. Brennan couldn't see the demon's face within the helmet, but if this was who he thought it was, the demon probably did not even have one.

"Regardless, he is unimportant. The harpies will soon descend and take care of them all." The Source replied, his voice making Brennan shiver even more, "We must continue the plan. Too much time has been lost already. Your vessel was far more difficult to crack than anticipated."

"Typical. I am surprised, though. I wouldn't have thought this would even be possible given everything that surrounds the Charmed Ones now."

Brennan made the courageous choice to inch closer, staying far enough away to not be heard through the creaking of branches in the wind, and out of the light that the moon was casting on the clearing where Phoebe and the king of demons stood.

"It is all because of what you see before you."

They both turned to the centre of the clearing, and it was only now that Brennan realised they had been standing next to something the entire time. It had not just been the forest making noise in the frigid breeze.

In the dim moonlight, Brennan could see the blood-red petals of a flower around the size of his living room. Vines whipped around its sides, shaking off snow and even clearing it off the blooming plant in the middle, gently sweeping it away in every direction. The movements of the plant itself reminded the mutant of a dying animal: squirming, grotesque, and almost lethargic. The thousands of crimson petals were pointed at the end, looking like a thousand needles as they moved inwards and outwards. It was like the thing was _breathing_.

"Beautiful..." Phoebe breathed in awe.

"Indeed. But before we discuss this any further, perhaps it would be better to deal with the eavesdropper in the trees."

Brennan froze.

The Source and Phoebe turned to face his direction exactly, practically staring at the very tree he was hiding behind. He figured there was no point in hiding now, and made his way out to confront them.

"The lover..." The Source chuckled. It was like the sound of someone choking on gravel.

Phoebe's skin had a blue tinge and it was not just because of the moonlight shining on her. Her lips were almost purple from the cold. Brennan did not know what was keeping her alive in these temperatures, but he hoped it would last long enough for him to get her home.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him icily.

"I'm here to bring you back home." Brennan stated simply.

Phoebe scoffed, "There's nothing to bring back home."

At this, a blazing heat suddenly hit his face. Brennan turned into it and saw a trail of flames coiling and licking around the Source's arm, suddenly belching into an intense stream of fire when it reached his hand and melting the snow around him. The deep orange flames raged for a few more seconds before there was a dull thud and the fire dissipated, leaving a giant rusted mace on the ground. The Source gripped the handle tightly, the metallic shriek of him moving his gauntleted hand upwards and allowing the menacing weapon to swing making Brennan's ears hurt.

"I thought you couldn't harm them." He said, his eyes darting between his wife and his potential life's end.

The Source chuckled lowly again, "Look at her." He held his free hand up, gently brushing the hair off Phoebe's shoulders. Brennan had to ignore the sharp pang in his chest when she leaned into his touch. "Not a hair on her head harmed." He moved in a way that suggested he was ready to swing the massive weapon that was easily twice the size of Brennan's head, "You, on the other hand..."

"Wait." Phoebe laid a hand on the swinging mace at her side, stilling its pendulum-like movement, "I'll deal with him."

There were a few moments of tense silence as a chilling wind whistled through the woods. Tree branches creaked, the giant flower before Brennan shivered, and the mutant himself held his breath, awaiting his fate.

"Very well."

Another heat wave and a vicious column of fire consumed the Source completely. It vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving husband and wife alone in the cold and the dark.

"We have so much to thank you for, Brennan." Phoebe smirked, slowly approaching him, "The snake in our proverbial garden. You have no idea how much you helped us by taking Phoebe away from her sisters. The unbreakable bond of the Power of Three stretched to its limit! Fantastic."

"What are you talking about?"

"You see, when the Charmed Ones destroyed the Hollow, the effects were felt everywhere. Every time, every dimension. It sent ripples through the entire universe. And you don't do something like that without garnering some attention and..." Phoebe grimaced, "_Gratitude_." She rolled her eyes, "These days, the Charmed Ones are protected by a lot more than just their own magic. Things you've never even heard of got their backs. Things that don't even exist in our world! You cannot _fathom_ how deep this goes. Thousands of charms, spells, wards... You name it; the sisters are double-bagged in it."

Brennan had to control the grin from spreading across his face. After years of getting nothing in return for their hard work, his wife and her sisters had finally been rewarded with the greatest protection in the whole universe. His pride gave him a momentary burst of warmth, before she took it away with her next words.

"Of course, all this protection is tied to the strength of the Power of Three." She continued, "Separating Phoebe from Piper and Paige stretched things, and then that silly argument they all had a few weeks ago made it even _weaker_. Add in the stress of the harpies and it was the perfect opportunity for this beautiful thing to work its magic." Phoebe gestured to the writhing plant behind her, "Do you know what this does, Brennan?"

It hit him almost instantly, "That's the thing that's been causing us not to sleep."

Phoebe gasped in mock surprise, "Clever boy! This plant causes mental unrest. That's why the harpies in this forest have gone insane, that's why no one in your house can sleep, and that's why Phoebe lost her mind to me."

"Are you saying-?"

"All of Phoebe's powers are linked to her mind. Did you not think the random flare ups of those powers were a big enough indicator that your wife was losing it? Not to mention she had to fight off your resentment every time you were in the room ever since the harpies showed up. What's the matter, Brennan? Do you wish you had the power to banish an entire race of demons from the Underworld too?"

Brennan's heart sank. It was not like that _at all_.

The thing inside his wife shrugged, "Doesn't matter now anyway. Phoebe's gone." She was right in front of him now, her quiet whispering somehow still audible over the harsh wind that screamed through the trees, "She left this world thinking you thought she was nothing but a weak, _evil_ piece of trash."

A sudden heat exploded between them, followed by a searing pain as Brennan was struck by a fierce stream of fire that burst to life from Phoebe's palm. The intense flames sent him flying back through the air before he slammed into a tree. The impact made snow tumble from every branch as Brennan fell to the pearly white ground below, smoke pouring from his still body as his blood began to drench snow beneath him.

Without a twinge of regret, Phoebe vanished in a swirl of flames and all was still, apart from the distant screams of the harpies rising into the sky.

* * *

Phoebe asked, "...Am I in Hell?"

Her companion smiled, "No. That would actually be preferable."

"Then what is this place?"

The two of them basked in the silence for a few moments. She looked down, deep in thought as she composed the right words, "It's... unfinished. Heaven and Hell are endings. They're final, and no matter what side of the fence you fall on, you're complete. Your life is over. This place... It denies you of a conclusion. You wander around in the dark for all eternity until you lose your mind. You can try and rest... But they don't let you."

"They?"

At this, the blonde warily cast her eyes around the immediate area, evidently seeing things that Phoebe could not, "Countless souls just as unfortunate as I was. They whisper in your ear, they know everything. There are no secrets here."

The middle Charmed One peered out into the darkness, struggling to see what Alicia could look at so clearly, "Where are they?"

"Close. Not as close as I am, but they're here. This is as quiet as I've ever heard it."

"Why?"

"Because for some, you're the first thing they've seen in centuries. The light hurts, so they can't come any closer. I can stand here..." She paused, "Well, I can stand here because I'm not as bad as the rest. I haven't been here as long so I can still see, and I still have my sanity for the time being." She smiled, but her joke fell on deaf ears as Phoebe's eyes continued to dart around the darkness, desperate to see what she was up against. "Do you know why you're here?"

The witch snorted, "Demons." She looked up in her tower of light, looking for her salvation.

"The Source is trying to retrieve the Devil's Eye."

"Wait, what? We destroyed that thing."

"No, you didn't." The woman said in response, "You merely put it out of his reach. But as you know, power grows over time and the Source has had a long time to figure out how to retrieve it from the Earth's core. He's going to use your connection to himself and the Devil's Eye to achieve it."

"What _connection_?" Phoebe questioned cynically, "I've met this Source like, once."

There was silence for a few moments before the blonde continued, seemingly ignoring Phoebe's question. "You're connected to the Devil's Eye not only because you banished it, but because you took in its power as well. Summoning something is always easier if you have traces of it to strengthen the call."

The Charmed One's eyes narrowed, "That applies to both of my sisters as well. So what makes _me_ special? Why did the Source come after _me_?"

She looked at Phoebe with pitiful eyes, "Because you are his Queen."

* * *

Jordann tried to minimize the scale of the disaster around her in her mind. The living room only _looked_ a mess. Yes, the couch was soaked through from snow, and what remained of the coffee table had been thrown into the fireplace. And _yes_, she and her younger companions were gathered around the blazing fire like homeless people around a fiery oil drum and the whole room had been ruined by the snow and wind. But it was all superficial. They were _fine_.

"This _sucks_." Connor announced, pulling his collar even further up his face so only his eyes could be seen in the thin gap between hat and jacket.

Jordann sighed in response, her breath more like a thick cloud of mist as it swirled from her mouth. "I know, honey. But your parents will be back soon and we'll be able to fix the hole in the wall, and everything will be okay." She tightened her arm around Faith, pulling the toddler closer to her body. The youngest of the family was typically silent; only gripping Jordann's sleeve even harder as she was brought in closer.

"What's happened to my mom?" Connor asked quietly, voice muffled from his collar.

The feral pursed her lips, "She's going to be fine, Connor. I promise. You fancy giving the fire another little jolt?"

Connor held her stare for a few moments and Jordann was genuinely shaken. The boy's lively bright blue eyes said more than a child his age should even be able to comprehend. He knew she was lying, but seemed to be holding back on saying so. When his gaze flickered to his little sister nestled under Jordann's arm, she realised: He didn't want to worry his younger sibling.

It did not stop any of them jumping in surprise when he suddenly shot a small bolt of crackling electricity into the heart of fire, causing the flames to jump up once more.

The shocks kept coming as, almost as soon as the fire had strengthened, Ryan let out a scream of pain and fell back onto the floor.

He had recovered before Jordann could even dive to his aid, breathing heavily and clutching his head. Even with the heat of the fire, all colour had drained from his face; his eyes blown wide from shock and, she guessed, fright.

"Oh, God..."

"What is it?"

"Those thing that attacked me-,"

"The harpies."

"They're coming here."

In that moment nothing was colder than the blood running through Jordann's veins.

"How many?"

"Uh... I don't know. About thirty or forty?"

Even colder still, "How long do we have?"

"Minutes."

The feral's heightened hearing had been dominated by the sounds of the crackling fire in front of her and the howling winds outside, but now that she knew what she was listening out for she took a deep breath and filtered out everything she already knew. Past the snapping embers, the vicious weather, and the now panicked breathing of everyone around her, she could hear it far off in the distance: the din of an entire nest of harpies on the warpath, screaming as they made their way to the house.

"Connor, come with me." Jordann ordered calmly, rising to her feet with Faith in her arms. She kept her gaze locked on the window. There was nothing yet; nothing but snow and darkness.

"What's happening?" He asked as he rose, his trembling.

"It's okay; I'm just going to take you and Faith upstairs. Come on."

The moment they had moved here, Phoebe had made sure the kids' rooms were the safest places in the house. Charms, wards, everything the middle Charmed One could think of had been cast on the four walls of her children's bedrooms. Jordann tried to stay out of them as much as possible. The apple scent of whatever the floorboards had been treated with was always too overpowering for her.

Faith's room had the smaller window. There would be less chance of them attacking from there. And the smaller the area the protection crystals covered, the stronger they were. With all this in mind, the hare feral quickly arranged the crystals in the smallest pentagon possible at the foot at Faith's bed and promptly made sure both children were within its perimeter.

"You don't leave the crystals. No matter what you hear, no matter what comes through the window or the door, you _do not_ leave the crystals. Even if everything has been quiet for a while, do not move until me or your parents come for you. Alright?"

She was nearly out of the room when Connor called to her, "Jordann! What's going to happen?"

Jordann stopped in the doorframe and turned to face him. She was shaking, her eyes were glassy, but she still did her best to comfort him, "I don't know sweetie, but you're to going be fine. I promise."

She shut the door behind her and soon after her feelings of fear and dread were replaced with white hot fury. Ryan was attempting to loosen the curtain she had draped over the crater in the wall.

"What are you doing?" She roared, picking up a sodden blanket and throwing it over the fire, extinguishing it immediately and leaving them in complete darkness. "Were you even going to put the fire out before you left or were you going to make it even easier for them to find us?"

"I was just-,"

"Shut up!" She yelled, "You cowardly son of a bitch..."

"They've already found us!" Ryan shouted back, "I know every possible way this can end! We all die, no matter what anyone does, so I'd rather take my chances out there in the snow rather than stay trapped in here!"

Jordan paused for a moment, before growling lowly and baring her teeth, "You're an idiot." She snarled.

"What?"

"Every outcome, huh?"

"Yes!"

"You can't even _control_ your power!" Jordann shouted, "You've spent this entire time fighting your powers; do you really think you have access to everything it could offer you when you spend your whole life rejecting it? There are thousands, no, _millions_ of different ways this could end. You know nothing."

"I know every single-,"

"What a load of crap!" She spat back, cutting him off. "You probably only know about twenty, maybe thirty different endings. Let me ask you this: in any of your scenarios, do I cast a spell at any point?"

"I..." Ryan began loudly, before his voice suddenly left him and confusion spread across his face, "No..."

"That's funny, because that's _exactly_ what my plan is." Jordann replied, before storming off to the kitchen.

Ryan stood alone in the dark living room, dumbfounded. He only had the sound of the wind for company, and somewhere underneath it he was certain he could hear the vicious screams of the unnatural terrors barrelling down upon the house. Shaken by this, he began to move.

"I want to help."

Jordann's hollow laugh was audible despite the fact her head was in the fridge, "A change of heart?" She turned around face him, setting a giant cauldron down on the counter, "I kind of expected you to run off."

His response was simple, "I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't know everything."

For the first time since he had got here, Jordann gave the teenager a genuine smile before getting back to business, "Phoebe's always taught me that it's not always about needing _more_ power. Sometimes, you just need to look at the power you have from a different angle. This is what we're going to do, and what I hope _you'll_ start doing if we get out of this."

"So what's the plan?"

"We've been fighting the harpies for a while now, so we decided it would just be easier to make up massive batches of the vanquishing potion. This is one of those said batches." She placed her hand on the edge of the cauldron, "There's enough potion here to vanquish an entire harpy nest. We can cast a spell, and turn it from a big pot of liquid into a massive harpy-killing energy wave."

Ryan's eyes widened, "Will that even work?"

"No idea." Jordann said grimly, "But hey, isn't this all part of the fun of not having all the answers?"

"But-,"

"Ryan, have a little faith." She said, "I really think this is going to work. We both need to take a leap of faith. So let's just do it, shall we? We have nothing to lose." She narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment before revising her statement, "Well, apart from our lives."

Ryan stood guard over at the kitchen window as Jordann wrote the spell. For the spell to have maximum effect, they had to wait until the harpies were closer, preferably when they were overrunning the house. It was going to be near impossible to time perfectly, but they had to try.

"Okay, I got it. It's a modification of a spell Phoebe taught me." She said, brandishing the spell and dropping to the floor so they had the cover of the kitchen counter.

"What did you mean when you said had to move on?" Ryan asked. Jordann glared at him initially, but when she saw that he was not going to relent, she replied.

"Well, I let someone down in a pretty big way. I was weak when I should have been strong and some pretty intense stuff went down... It was Phoebe's niece I let down. That's actually part of the reason I came here in the first place. To try and make amends."

"That doesn't sound like a good reason to be here."

"Well, that's not why I'm here _now_." Jordann clarified, "This happened years ago. I'm here now because I want to be. I care about Phoebe and Brennan, I care about those kids upstairs, and I care about this _place_. It's my home." She frowned, "In fact, I don't even know why all the negative stuff bubbled to the surface recently."

She was about to continue when the sound of the harpies finally became close enough to hear in the storm. It was like hearing a train come off the rails; this unnatural screeching that only got more piercing and difficult to bear as it got closer.

"I hope you're ready for this."

Both of them stilled completely, gripping each other's hands and holding the spell between them. The cauldron was just in front of them on the floor, which was potentially dangerous, but they could not take the chance of it being destroyed by the harpies before they had a chance to cast the spell.

"Just a few seconds after they get here, right?"

"Yeah, just so we can cause maximum damage."

"...Okay."

"Here we go!"

The moment of impact was like an explosion. Every window in the house seemed to simultaneously smash, along with the harpies screaming and shredding everything that was in their path. Within moments, the kitchen had been ruined; feathers and destroyed appliances littering the room and Jordann's eyesight. It was when a harpy's wayward talon scratched her face and blew their cover that she held Ryan's hand tightly and began to cast the spell.

"In the circle that is home, safety's gone and evils roam, so take the power we present, and pull them to their deep descent!"

_Noise_. The cauldron before them suddenly exploded as a blinding pillar of white light shot up from the space it occupied. Energy pulsed from it in waves that went through the house, Jordann, and Ryan harmlessly, but had an entirely different effect on the harpies. Their screams became more high-pitched, their movements became laboured, and the heat grew unbearable within seconds as every demon in the house was consumed in a vicious torrent of fire. The hare feral watched in horror as a harpy suddenly fell to the floor next to them and crumbled to ash, clearly interrupted in mid-assault of the two people cowering on the floor.

In the final few moments, it became too much to bear; the agonised screams of the harpies, the heat from their vanquish, the blinding light right in front of them that seemed to be emitting a noise of its own. Jordann could feel herself slipping. The last thing she remembered before passing out was Ryan speaking to her in a new tone that made his voice practically unrecognisable.

"Well done."

* * *

_Again, sorry for the lateness. This chapter was a bit of an editing nightmare! The next one should be more prompt._


	4. Part IV

**Have You Passed Through This Night? – Part IV**

A question came from her friend in the darkness. "Do you know why you can fight the harpies?"

Phoebe, who had her eyes fixed on trying to find the top of the pillar of light she was within, brought her gaze back down to the pale blonde standing in front of her. She smiled grimly, "I have a theory."

"Which is?"

"...Cole." She replied simply, "He banished all harpies from the Underworld for hurting me. Demons that aren't under the rule of the Source don't apply to the deal we made. It's the same reason my sisters and I would be able to fight a vampire." Her eyes narrowed, "Although I don't see how that matters now. Harpies are the least of my problems at the moment." She returned her attention upwards, thinking the conversation was over.

"How does that make you feel?"

Phoebe looked back down, "How does what make me feel?"

She shrugged, "You had a husband with that kind of power? The king of all evil... Banishing an entire race of demon for daring to _scratch_ you. It's pretty-,"

"I got over it a long time ago." The witch said tonelessly, "It's just one of these things I'm never going to outrun, isn't it? I'm going to continue to pay for that same mistake over and over again; choosing evil over everything else I knew was right. I've come to terms with what I am. If anything, the whole thing with the harpies was just a reminder. Along with the dreams..."

"A reminder of what?"

Phoebe responded as if the answer was the easiest in the world, not even bothering with eye contact, "That no matter what I do, how many people I save, and how well I live my life... Evil always finds a way of getting to me. It doesn't make a difference what I do about it; I was probably going to end up in a place like this sooner rather than later."

Her companion in the gloomed seemed shocked by this as Phoebe returned to her skyward inspection. They stayed in silence for a few minutes. Only the gentle thrum of invisible activity in the pitch black was keeping them company. Phoebe was choosing to ignore that it seemed to be getting louder. Or perhaps it was just getting _closer_.

"It's not as bleak as I make it sound. It just seems to be my nature. I made the wrong choice back then; choosing my husband over my sisters. You'd think I'd learn, but then I went and did the same thing again-,"

"You think you're evil for moving away from your sisters?"

"Well, that's certainly how they made me feel..."

The middle Charmed gave up her inspection and rested her chin against her chest, heaving a great sigh in the process. She could see how one could go mad in here. It was as if she was perpetually hearing things _just_ out of earshot; like overhearing a whispered conversation, or hearing people in another room. It was always untraceable when you looked for it, but seemed to be right next to your ear the moment you began to ignore it.

"There's no getting out of here, is there?"

"It's not been known, no."

"Why did they even put me here? Why not just kill me?"

"Because they still need all of you. To have just part of you isn't enough for what they need to do. It will be once they bring back the Devil's Eye though. That light connects you to your world. Once it goes out, you're finished. And besides..." She added, "You're a Charmed One; they would never just kill you. It's too easy. "

It hit Phoebe with horrible urgency and clout that she was standing on a precipice. She looked upwards again desperately, convinced that the light was already dimming. If she couldn't find a way to fix this, she would spend eternity in darkness. She would never see her children again, her husband, her sisters... She was suddenly filled with the need to stay _alive_. To stay in the light.

"Your sisters... couldn't they help?"

"No... We haven't spoken in months. Not hearing from me for a couple of days is pretty much the norm these days."

"Why?"

"...We had a fight. Something happened with Paige back in the summer when Piper was visiting me, and she had to deal with it on her own. Paige said she didn't bother calling us because we were so far away, and it came down to being about me moving away _again_..."

The woman nodded in understanding, "Well, I'm guessing that would weaken the Power of Three."

"No!" Phoebe responded instantly and so passionately and she swore she saw the black around her ripple in surprise, "I never would have moved away if it meant that. I've always known that our bond had nothing to do with distance. That's stupid! I know those two inside out; a few miles apart were never going to change that. And deep down, they know that too."

"...Then why did you even fight in the first place?"

"I-," The middle Charmed One started loud, before her voice vanished and she looked sadly at her feet, "I really don't know. God, I feel _so_-," She brought her hand up to her cheek, surprised to find it wet with tears. She looked at her fingertips for a moment, astonished, before looking to her companion for answers, "What is going on?"

"It's the magic you've been under for the past few weeks. It's starting to lift because you're not in your body." She explained, "Your emotions were put into a kind of... hibernation. You felt everything less. It helped prepare you for feeling nothing at all. Now, it's like a floodgate opening. Am I right?"

Phoebe's expression slipped even further into confusion, before her brow creased and she was swiftly angered, "Who are you? How do you about all of this? All about _me_?"

"I know what I know because the shadows talk." The blonde answered calmly with a small smirk, "What the Source is doing has been in preparation for a long time and this kind of thing always finds its way down here eventually. And as for your first question..." She stared Phoebe straight in the eye before not being able to hold her gaze and faltering, "You really don't want to know."

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."

Her expression went dark, "I'm the reason you're not speaking to your sisters."

Phoebe frowned in thought for a moment before her eyes widened, "You mean-,"

"Yes. I'm Alicia James."

* * *

It was an odd array of feelings that Brennan awoke to. One side of his face and his entire front were freezing from lying in the snow, but there was a slow, soothing warmth spreading through his bones and skin from the base of his neck. He was not sure if he was too cold or too warm. Either way, he decided that getting up out of the snow was probably the best thing to do.

"Can you stand?"

He was on his feet so quickly that he immediately fell back against the tree he had been thrown into. Brennan's eyes widened when he saw Ryan standing in front of him, looking mildly surprised. The teenager's hands were glowing with a deep-golden hue for a brief moment before the light went out and they were standing in the darkness once more with Brennan's heavy breathing being the only sound around.

"Did you heal me?"

When Ryan replied, his voice was different. There was less uncertainty; more confidence and calm, "Yes."

"How?" His expression shifted, "Why are you here? Are the kids alright?"

"Yes." Ryan smirked, "Jordann... has more imagination than I gave her credit for. She has protected them very well."

"What-?"

"Enough." Ryan raised his hand, silencing the other man instantly, "I know everything that's happened has been confusing, but you should be able to think clearer once I destroy the abomination behind us." His eyes went from tranquil and kind to fierce and deadly within seconds and he turned around.

Brennan's attention was brought to the giant plant that the teenager was now facing. It was still writhing sickeningly under the lightly falling snow, vines swirling around and caressing the branches of the trees that framed it. Its colour was as vibrant as ever, and if the mutant was not mistaken, it seemed to be even brighter in the moonlight. It would no doubt be considered a beautiful flower if it didn't move in such an unnatural and grotesque fashion.

Ryan raised his hand, palm facing the plant, before swiftly twisting his wrist and forming a tight fist. A bright light shone through the flower's translucent petals for a brief second, and there was a muted thud as if something had just exploded at its core. The light flashed yet again, dazzling Brennan's eyes and creating an x-ray effect on the flower for a moment, before there was an ungodly scream, another flash of light... and it was gone.

Ryan lowered his arm, staring at the giant scorch mark that was now in place of the hideous plant he had destroyed, "Nothing will grow here ever again..." He murmured, "It's called Hecate's Blossom. Its main effect is to cause mental unrest in humans. It sends them into a confused state; they start asking questions, they have arguments, they can't sleep. It makes you crazy. And while it does that, it shuts you off from your emotions as well. Been feeling a little muted lately?"

Brennan opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when a salty tinge hit his tongue. He raised his hands to face and dabbed his cheeks, shocked to find that he seemed to be crying, "What-?" He choked out, before realising he could barely get the words out from the emotion flooding his mind.

"A child seed was planted in your wife to magnify the effects." Ryan explained, turning back around, "It turned her into..." He hesitated, smirking, "Well, it turned her into the Queen of the Underworld. Cold, unfeeling, out for herself."

_Going through the motions_, the mutant added mentally.

"So has destroying that thing saved her?"

"No. What your wife is now has taken on a life on its own."

"Then how do we get her back?"

When he looked back on this moment later, Brennan would realise that whatever Ryan was had no intention of saving Phoebe.

The teenager's expression shifted to something unreadable yet again and he held out his hand. The mutant flinched, remembering what had happened the last time this happened, only to realise Ryan had extended his hand to be taken.

"Let's go."

* * *

Another part of her, distant from her now, had seen this in a dream somewhere.

The throne made her feel powerful. The moment she had lowered herself into it, it seemed to cradle her; sending energy thrumming through her body. She sat with a less than regal posture; practically slumped against its back, fingers gripping the arms, and looking out at the sea of demons before her through heavy-lidded eyes, each one of her subjects holding a ball of flames up towards her in respect. They probably all thought she had been drugged and brought here against her will, but that was far from the truth. The power in this space was absolutely _intoxicating_.

She briefly cast her eyes upwards, surveying the sea of shadow demons that acted as the only ceiling the Deep Underworld had. If she looked hard enough, she swore that their different shapes could be seen clambering over each other, fighting with each other, some just completely still. And of course, no noise. They were shadows after all. For a moment, she remembered that shadow demons did not discriminate when it came to prey and was she afraid that the light from the floating inferno before her would attract them to attack. This feeling passed as quickly as it came. They would not dare touch her.

"You all are here to witness something incredible. It is something that you will never witness ever again even if you live forever."

The Source's voice seemed so far away, yet he stood right next to her.

"Your Queen rejoins us after fighting her true destiny for so long. The Power of Three is destroyed forever, and we stand on the edge of returning to a glory long thought lost."

He turned and looked down at her. She saw nothing but darkness in his helmet.

"We will retrieve the very essence of our existence! In ancient times, our kind used this instrument to contain everything we were, every ounce of power we had, so we could survive. But we have grown, have we not? We have surpassed the power of our ancestors! We no longer just survive, we _thrive_! So, imagine: what will we be capable of with our own strength, and the powers of the past?"

He held out his hand, all spikes and shine from the gauntlet he wore. She took his hand and was pulled to her feet.

"The answer... is _anything_."

The roar that went up was so loud that even the ferocious, formless demons above them shook from its might.

"We will stand at the edge of the abyss, your Queen and I, and we shall summon forth the instrument for the demise of the world as we know it: The Devil's Eye!"

The demons covered every single surface completely. As far as she could see from the raised pedestal of the throne, it seemed like every creature the Underworld could muster was here. She could see ones with wings swooping over their grounded counterparts, faceless creatures climbing the walls to get a better look at her, and even some small scuffles breaking out through the crowd due to the hysteria her rising had created. She spotted others perching on pieces of broken statues that were scattered throughout the Deep Underworld. It was a din in the dark; one unified rumble that shook the cavern's walls and her ribcage. Her power grew.

As they walked down the steps, the demons began to part to let them through. Scorch marks and massive craters littered the ground they walked on; remnants of a battle fought long ago that had left the smooth surface more like the surface of an actual cave. The demons created a clear path, their cheers becoming impossibly louder. Fireballs flew up into the air and exploded like fireworks, only adding to the cacophony. This was a celebration.

And then she stumbled, falling against the king of demons beside her. She gripped her leg in sudden pain; a flash of an old injury that was not sustained by her. She was struck dumb by the pain, her mouth moving as if she was trying to form words but was failing. The power that had thrummed through her body seemed to rush out of here, and for just one moment, she saw her own face glaring at her in the darkness.

The demons who were standing closest to her stopped their cheering and doubt immediately spread across their faces. Rage bubbled inside her and her power returned, and she prompted dispatched her disapproving subjects with a wave of intense fire that flew from her fingertips. The ones around those who had been vanquished started their maddening cheers yet again.

"Can you continue?" The Source asked.

"Yes. Take me to the edge."

* * *

Phoebe's heart stopped when the light she was bathed in suddenly grew a lot dimmer. Now she knew was not seeing things when the darkness all around her seemed to shift. Alicia cast a wary gaze around her immediate position before returning her eyes to the middle Charmed One.

"What's going on?"

Alicia looked up, her jaw clenched tightly, "They're... not going to need you for much longer."

Phoebe's eyes widened in horror her jaw clenched in a similar way, only it was out of anger rather than fear. "Alright, you said you were here to help me. _So help me_. Don't talk to me about marrying the Source, about how I am or am not evil, or about my sisters who you already _know_ about anyway. Stop just standing there talking and _do something_!"

"I _am_ doing something!" Alicia snapped back, taking steps towards Phoebe so she was just outside the glowing prison she could not enter, "You want to know how you get back to your world? This is it! You're feeling it right now. You're angry at me for causing your fallout with your sisters and you're desperate to see your family who love so much your heart is practically jumping out of your chest at the thought of not seeing them again. This is what they tried to separate you from, Phoebe: _emotion_. It's what you've always been about. Forget about good and evil! You _feel_."

"So, what? This entire conversation has just been to make me feel something?"

"It worked, didn't it? The woman screaming at me a second ago isn't the same one who didn't care whether or not she ended up in Hell."

"Well, _great_ job!" The witched bellowed, "But I'm still here. I'm feeling everything and I'm still _here_!"

"It's one thing to feel your emotions; it's another thing to _use_ them."

"Oh, for God's..."

Phoebe trailed off when the light she was trapped in dimmed even further. This was immediately followed by the first solid noise she had heard from the pitch black around her. It was almost mechanical in sound; one unified chilling groan from the countless creatures that could not bear to come any closer due to the light. She looked to Alicia's face, who looked even more terrified than she felt. The blonde actually _knew_ what was out there. Phoebe thought this was one of the few times her imagination could not conjure something worse than the reality.

"If that light goes out, their gloves will come off." Alicia whispered, shaking her head, "You're... radiant to them. You're so bright it hurts. They won't even bother trying to drive you insane, Phoebe. They'll just tear you apart."

* * *

When she came around, the only thing Jordann could do was open her eyes.

It was like she had survived being at the centre of an explosion. Her ears were ringing so much her head hurt and although she seemed to physically okay overall, it was like her mind was still recovering from the trauma and could not make her body move just yet. The kitchen was a mass of blood, feathers, and scorch marks. The floor in front of her was pitch black and smoking; nothing remained of the potion pot. And Ryan was nowhere to be seen, but she would not realise this for some time.

Her body finally moved and she pushed herself up to a sitting position, her muscles screaming from the exertion of holding herself up on her hands. Jordann shook her head, trying to dislodge the ringing in her head but only succeeded in shaking off feathers that had stuck to the trails of dried blood coming from her ears. The feral grabbed the counter and pulled herself up which ended up being easier than sitting had been. She had always been a fast healer and could feel her body recovering already. She shook her head again and the ringing faded a little. She did it again, and it cleared instantly.

Connor's voice, clear as crystal, screaming, "Help!" was the first thing she heard.

As Jordann bolted up the stairs, she had a moment to survey the living area on her way. The whole house was _wrecked_. A thin veil of smoke hung in the air, small fires had broken out where harpies had exploded, destroying any furniture that had survived Phoebe's initial escape earlier in the evening. Even more snow had built up at the hole in the wall and the entire place looked like it had not been lived in for years after some kind of disaster.

"Jordann!"

The feral's breath hitched when she reached the doorway of Faith's room. Relief flowed through her for a brief second when she saw that both children were still safe and the crystals had protected them, but that quickly rushed away from her when she saw was trying to break through that protection.

She should have realised that, despite now much vanquishing potion she had transformed into energy, it would not be enough to vanquish the queen of the harpy nest. If anything, it looked even worse than the regular harpies. Bigger than all of her subjects, a wingspan that nearly filled the whole room, and a face that was even more twisted and grotesque than the others Jordann had faced. Dark-grey feathers ruffled at the sight of the girl in the doorway, and Jordann stared into the crimson eyes of the harpy queen.

_I was going to come to you after I devoured the children._

Jordann shook her head slightly again. Was it speaking directly into her mind?

_Your mind is racing all the time. I sensed you long before that flower ruined our forest. So much self-loathing, such lack of self-worth. I can take the pain away for you if you just relent to me._

She frowned. Was it suggesting...?

_Imagine all that hatred being directed at something other than yourself. You'd be a merciless, beautiful killer. Your wings would be glorious... Your song would be purer than the music of the spheres... Join me._

Jordann gripped the doorframe tightly, looking between the soulless blood-red eyes of the demon and the wide, terrified eyes of the two children within the crystal cage, Connor protectively shielding Faith as both them silently implored her for her help.

She said, "Bite me, sister."

The queen opened her beak, revealing a sickly purple tongue stained with centuries of blood, and screamed. The hands of every human in the room went to their ears immediately. It was not as rough as the other harpies she had heard, but that made it all the worse. It was more piercing; like a drill to the centre of her brain.

Jordann barely had time to get out at the way as the queen rushed her, smashing through the bedroom wall and into the hallway like it was paper and flying out into the middle of the living room while the hare feral crouched on the floor, defending herself from the flying debris caused by the demon's chase. She got to her feet just in time before massive, golden talons destroyed the floor she had been cowering on a second earlier. The queen followed her race around the hallway, her giant wings flapping lazily as she maintained her position above the living room.

It was at times like this Jordann hated the house for being so open-plan.

_We could have ruled the skies together... Now, you'll just be another piece of meat._

The queen dive-bombed again as Jordann was coming down the steps, forcing her to leap to the bottom halfway down the staircase. The feral landed relatively safely, rolling on the moment of impact. She went to get up and continue to dodge the flying demon above her, but it seemed her landing had not been as perfect as she thought, and Jordann screamed as her ankle buckled underneath her, sending her to the floor in a pile of snow against a damp, ruined sofa. The queen flew above her, preparing for a final strike.

_What a waste... Rabbits never have that much meat of them._

It was then that a harsh, strobe-effect light suddenly burst to life from the banister above Jordann. Lightning was suddenly pummelling the harpy queen in the chest; she screamed in agony, writhing in mid-air as bright-blue electricity flooded her. Jordann looked up and saw Connor, his hands shaking either from terror or the effort it was taking to fire that much electricity from his body.

Jordann took her chance. She had always been a fast healer.

"You see, the thing about _hares_ is..." She shouted over the crackling lightning, taking the steps two at a time as she ran up the stairs. She kept up this momentum as she ran around the walkway to the point she was parallel to the suffering demon in the air next to her, "There may not be a lot of meat on the bones..." Connor's electrical assault stopped and Jordann made an effortless, giant leapt from the banister, her legs ending up around the queen's head as if she was riding the demon's shoulders. She threw her arms behind her and gripped the harpy's wings for balance. The creature screamed in pain.

"But they sure do have powerful legs!" Jordann suddenly tightened her legs around harpy's head like a vice. The feral's eyes looked up, "Connor, don't watch!"

Once the boy had covered his eyes, Jordann let go of the harpy's wings and brutally twisted her entire body to the side. She fell from the harpy's shoulders almost instantly; her descent coupled with an ungodly scream as the creature burst into flames. Out of sheer luck, Jordann landed on one of the ruined sofas in the living room below and watched as the queen burst into flames.

She was infinitely pleased to see the creature's head, entirely removed from its body and on the floor next to her, also burst into flames.

* * *

Brennan could not see a thing when he and Ryan materialised wherever they were. Considering they had come from a forest in the middle of the night, the mutant considered this to be a feat of darkness.

Ryan's voice said beside him, "Don't move. You'll probably fall if you do. Just look down."

He did as instructed and instantly had to grab the rocky wall behind him to stop the sudden bout of vertigo from making him fall. They seemed to be standing at the top of a pit of demons. From what Brennan could make out, they were all holding up fireballs, the light created from doing so just barely reaching as high as they were. He could see thin gap in the crowd were a path that led to further darkness had been cleared. Given how far below the demons were, Brennan assumed they were around twenty stories high in the pitch black. He gripped the rock jutting out behind him even tighter and looked to Ryan. He did not even want to _look_ at how narrow the ledge they were standing on was.

"Where are we?"

"The Deep Underworld." Ryan responded, kneeling to get a closer look at the demons and apparently not bothered by how close to falling he was. "I'm sure you've heard about it from your wife. She's down there, by the way."

"What?" Brennan instantly began to scan the massive crowd despite knowing he was too far up to make anything out.

"At the very end of that path over there." The teenager pointed down to where the path petered out into the black. "She and the Source are standing on the very edge of the abyss. Your wife and her sisters thought it lead to the core of the earth, but in reality it leads to nothing. Throw something down there and it's finished... Unless you're the Source and his Queen. Then you have the power to summon things from it."

"I have to get down there."

"No." Ryan said firmly, putting his hand on Brennan's chest and stopping him from searching for a way down. "You'd never get down there without falling and dying, and I can't let any innocents get harmed. I have a plan. Just wait."

"What about Phoebe?" Brennan snarled.

Without even turning to face him, Ryan replied, "She is not my concern."

* * *

One wrong step and it would be over.

She and the Source stood on the precipice of the cliff that led to nothing. There was just infinite blackness. There was not even any sense of depth at the edge. The side of the gorge could not be seen at all, but she knew if either one of them were to take a fall, they would be finished.

His iron hand grasped hers and he began to chant in an ancient language she did not recognise, but felt like she had heard before. The demons behind them stilled and went silent, leaving nothing but the voice of their king to bounce off the wall of darkness he was chanting into. It was like holding hands with an earthquake; every syllable another tremor through her body. Power thrummed through her once again and somewhere far down below her, she was convinced she could see a faint red light burst to life in the deep.

That was when an explosion of light and fire behind her nearly threw her off the edge.

The Source tightened his grip on her hand instantly and held her steady, continuing to chant despite the fact there was now nothing but a smoking crater where around one hundred demons had stood just behind them. The rest of the hoard lost the reverie they had been in moments ago and flew into panic, looking around wildly for the source of the sudden and violent vanquish so many of their fellow kind had suffered. She looked over her shoulder, eyes bulging and she joined their search, just before another explosion went off far into the crowd, having a similar effect. The noise shook the cave walls, and any demons not immediately incinerated turned into comets in the air; being thrown up high from the blast and dying in mid-flight.

Then it happened again.

And again.

Pandemonium had broken out. Whatever spell the shadow demons above them were under was broken by the chaos and they were swiftly descending on the demons, indiscriminate in their prey. Those who were able to shimmer, blink or flame away to safety either did so, or tried to do so too late. The rest ran; blaming and attempting to kill each other before a cloud of swirling shadow fell on both and destroyed them.

She and the Source were the only ones to remain still. He continued to chant; his gravely voice echoing all around the endless chamber and somehow louder than the massacre unfolding behind him. She felt a strong gust of wind fly up from the abyss all of a sudden, her hair whipping around her head furiously. The red light, it was clear to see now, was fire, and it was rushing up towards them like a massive, fiery geyser.

Another explosion went off. Only this time, it was inside her head.

* * *

"Phoebe..." Alicia murmured, looking up, "You have to-,"

"I know."

Phoebe could see the top and bottom of the beam of light she was in now. This was because it had started to shrink rather than dim; it seemed to be quickly receding towards her. It made sense if she thought about it: it was her own life force that had protected her in this place, but now that was being snuffed out, that same protection was dying as well. She stamped her foot angrily against the darkness she was standing on, tears freely flowing now.

"Damnit! I don't know what to do! I-,"

"The solution is there, Phoebe! Feel it! Find the power in your emotions! The light's not out just yet. You can do this!"

A spark came to life in the middle Charmed One's mind.

_Our powers are tied to our emotions._

_My powers._

_A spell._

_A light._

Her protection continued to weaken, only increasing in speed as it flew up and down towards her. Phoebe looked up again to find it just above her head. The last thing she saw before it went out completely was Alicia's face; full of desperation and hope as the blonde stared intensely at her. Both women let out a small whimper as darkness took over.

"I... I am light."

White light suddenly burst to life from her chest and Phoebe screamed in horror at what it exposed. Pale, sharp-featured, barely-human creatures that were inches away from her. They were all around her, _thousands_ of them filling up her sight. They let out an awful wail from the sudden flare of light and fled, but immediately began to return when it seemed the light was dimming.

"I am one too strong to fight!"

Another burst, greater this time. The scream the twisted beings let out was even more unbearable. More chilling than every harpy scream Phoebe had ever heard.

"Return to dark where shadows dwell, you cannot have this Halliwell!"

There was another more intense flare, only this time Phoebe felt it go through all of her this time. It reignited a heat in her chest, a clarity in her mind. She had not felt this focused and powerful in weeks.

"So go away and leave my sight, and take with you this endless night!"

The light was _blinding_.

* * *

It was like waking up from a dream, only to fall immediately into another one.

She screamed in pain as the Source gripped her hand even tighter to stop her from losing her balance again. He had apparently not realised whatever force had brought on Phoebe's consent had been exorcised from her body, and continued to chant over the deafening sounds of war breaking out behind them. Visually, there was not much difference between where she had been in and where she was in now, but Phoebe knew she was back. The pain in her hand and the pounding in her head were more than enough to bring her back to reality.

Looking over her shoulder did nothing to quell the middle Charmed One's disorientation. Countless demons all fighting with one another while inky black clouds of even denser darkness fell upon them, completely consumed whatever they touched silently. She recognised they were in the Deep Underworld from the massive statues of bestial demons that were carved into the walls, but outside of that, she knew nothing. Why was she here? _How_ was she here?

"Apologies." The Source suddenly rumbled lowly next to her, "But I will not be sharing this with you."

As a massive wall of flames suddenly spewed upwards from the abyss before her, the Source threw Phoebe back roughly, sending her to the ground as the wave of light and heat assaulted her at the same time. He still seemed to be unaware that she had returned to her normal self.

It was through blurry vision brought on by a fresh head wound she saw it. It was glowing fiercer than the fire around it; a deep crimson beacon amongst the fury. The Source had his arms outstretched, his cloak billowing in the harsh gale that came from the force of the flames. The image of the king of demons silhouetted against a wall of bright red-orange flames was one that would stay with her always, defining so much in a single second.

.

"No!"

Phoebe's shout caused him to turn around and in her concussed mind, she found it ironic that a creature without a face was able to express such emotion; such fury.

The next few minutes were a blur due to her injury. Brennan suddenly appeared out of _nowhere_; dashing out in front of her with lightning pouring from his fingertips and into the Source's chest, stray sparks snapping in the air around him. Again, all she could see was her husband's silhouette against the bright light of the electricity in front of him. It was another image that she would always remember, only for entirely opposite reasons.

It surely could not have been _Ryan_ who appeared at Brennan's side, bringing forth even more light from his hands, only this time it was aimed at the blood-red eye in the middle of the wall of fire behind the Source. Brennan ceased his attack and dropped to Phoebe's side, cradling her head and holding her against his chest while Ryan (_What is he doing here?_) continued to blast a concentrated beam of brilliant white light into the flames.

She heard Brennan talking, but could not make out what he was saying over the sudden roar the Source let out as the flames behind him dropped like the strings being cut on a puppet, leaving all of them in complete darkness save for Ryan, who was simply giving off his _own_ light. The din of the demons behind them seemed to suddenly stop.

The Source and the teenager were exchanging heated words, none of which Phoebe could hear properly. The demon let out another roar of anger and then vanished in a gout of vicious flames. When the fire from his escape dissipated, the darkness the middle Charmed One was left in was simply the darkness of her own unconsciousness.

* * *

_The final part will be up soon. Enjoy! And don't forget to review._


	5. Part V

**Have You Passed Through This Night? - Part V**

Phoebe sat in the recesses of the living room sofa with a blanket over her legs, staring into the fireplace where the flames were flickering cheerfully behind the grate. She was still in the pyjamas she was in when her possession had started, but she simply had not had the energy to change. The cold mid-afternoon sun was shining through the large front window, adding a natural glow to the witch's surroundings that had been non-existent in the past few weeks. Phoebe wondered if Hecate's Blossom also had an effect on the weather as well.

She wrapped her hands tighter around her coffee mug, enjoying the silence of a house asleep. She had only been awake for around half an hour and had been shocked to realise that everyone in her family had actually been asleep for over thirty hours. A quick check on Faith had told Phoebe that her fever had vanished, and the fact that her own headache was gone told her that her daughter had been affected by the flower in the forest more than all of them. She had given her a sympathetic kiss on her forehead and left the young girl to sleep.

"Wow, sunlight."

Phoebe turned around to find Brennan padding his way towards the sofa, eyes transfixed on the tranquil winter day outside. It was times like this the middle Charmed One was grateful for where they lived; their front window was like an idyllic snowy postcard, all powdered white hilltops and plains of undisturbed snow with a dense-looking forest in the distance. It had all held such foreboding and gloom a few days ago.

"Amazing the difference it makes, huh?" Phoebe replied as he slumped down next to her, putting his feet up on the table. She began to idly run her fingers through his hair as she sipped her coffee; something she was prone to do in the morning and had not done in weeks. It was welcome contact for both of them.

"I was kind of hoping we'd sleep for a little longer." Brennan admitted sadly, not seeing his wife's look of shock, "I mean, eight hours isn't really enough after everything we've been through. I still feel beat."

Phoebe smirked into her mug, "Add a whole day onto that number and you'd be closer to the actual amount of time we've all slept." She looked down at his perplexed expression, "It's Thursday."

Brennan's eyebrows shot up, "No way." He frowned for a moment, before merely looking resigned, "Oh, well. I guess we all needed it."

She nodded, "Yeah, although I could have done without the voicemails from work and kids' school. I think they were one hour away from sending the police up here to make sure you hadn't gone all Shining on us."

"What did you tell them?"

"That the last fall a few nights ago snowed us in and we were just waiting it out. And I got to deliver the good news that Faith would be back in class tomorrow."

Brennan's eyes suddenly glinted with hope, "She's better?"

"Her fever's gone and her breathing doesn't sound as bad. We'll find out when she wakes up, but it's looking good. All she needed was some proper rest. I didn't realise just how _little_ sleep we've all got recently. I'm surprised none of us completely lost our minds." At Brennan's withering look, she frowned defensively, "Hey, I didn't lose my mind. I was evicted from it. You want to talk crazy? Talk to the girl who decapitated an upper-level demon with her _thighs_ in this very living room."

"Yeah, remind me not to mess with Jordann in the future."

"She saved our children. She could have killed the damn thing with her _hair_ for all I care." Phoebe turned her head, glancing at the closed door of Jordann's bedroom. "Poor thing; I think she's been feeling it more than all of us. She's been throwing off weird vibes recently, although I think I've finally got it figured out now. I hope she has too."

"Well, she hasn't actually slept in about four days before now, so that'll clear anyone's head."

"_Four days_? Why did no one tell me?"

"Because you worry! You know, when you've not been turned into an unfeeling psychopath."

Phoebe's jaw dropped in shock, before she simply sighed and took a sip of her coffee. "At least she's sleeping now, I guess..."

They sat in the silence for the few moments, simply enjoying that the tension that was hanging over the house for weeks seemed to have finally lifted. The sun was slowly burning away the dark banks of cloud that had had a permanent residence over their home all season. The winter was far from over, and there would be plenty more snow, but they would settle for it melting for an afternoon. It was like winter had fallen asleep for a while too.

"How much do you remember?"

Phoebe exhaled slowly, shaking her head, "Not a lot. I only know what you told me. I remember being in the house, and next thing I knew I was standing on the edge of a cliff with the Source. It's like trying to remember a dream. I know I did _something_ to take control over my body again... But I just have no idea what it was."

"So... you don't remember being in the forest with me?"

"No... Why, what did I do?"

Brennan sat up properly on the sofa all of a sudden, looking out towards the crumbling light-grey sky as the sunlight fought through it, "You don't know everything."

The middle Charmed One balked, "What?"

"I mean, yeah. You've got your powers and you've got your psychology degree, but you're not inside my head. You might be able to sense what I'm feeling, but you don't get the context of those feelings." He looked at her, searching for understanding, "You know?"

"You're kind of just... saying a lot of words together and none of them are making sense."

The mutant rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, "I know you've been able to sense the resentment coming off me recently and I'm not going to deny it." She opened her mouth to speak, but Brennan continued, "And I know that you think it's because I wish _I_ could banish a whole race of demons for hurting you, or you think that its jealousy and I'm... _competing_ with Cole or something, but it's not any of that. I..." He raised his hand and curled it into a fist, gritting his teeth, "I _hate_ the hold that one part of your life has on you. It's been on your shoulders ever since I met you, and I've never been able to do anything about it, and the way it all just had to come rushing back recently, well... I just wish you could let it go and believe what everyone has been telling you for so long."

"Which is?"

"That you're a good person."

He gently took one of her hands away from her coffee mug and held it in his own, kissing the back of it before letting their union fall between them. Phoebe smiled, squeezing his hand and putting down her coffee on the table in front of her, turning on the sofa to face him properly.

"I'm sorry." She said, causing him to frown, "Most of the time I don't pick up on what you're feeling unless I actively seek it out, and I _never_ do that. You have to know that; your emotions are yours and the thing you said about context is completely true. But my powers were just _off_ and I couldn't come anywhere near you without feeling all this bitterness and resentment. It was the same with Jordann; she was in this black pit of despair that I had no idea how to fix... But you both sorted it out on your own without me interfering, and it's made me realise that you need to overcome a lot of these things on your own. I mean, the people who love you can help, but it's ultimately your own hang ups and issues you have to deal with." Phoebe stared intensely into his eyes, before cracking up and letting out a small laugh, "Man, look who's making no sense now."

Brennan smiled, "No, I get it. Just try and stay out of people's heads from now on, alright? Powers or not, you're a little too insightful for your own good sometimes." He shot a worried look down at their held hands, "Although maybe we should keep your insight around for a little while longer."

"Why?"

"Connor." The mutant said darkly, "I mean, you nearly killed him. Not to mention he had to help Jordann fight the harpies. Faith won't remember much because of her fever, but it must have been pretty traumatic for-,"

"_Mom_! What's for breakfast?"

Both of them whipped around to find Connor grinning at them from the first floor banister. He only stayed there for a moment before throwing himself into a run around the house's main walkway, thundering down the stairs in the way that only an adolescent could manage without falling and bolting into the kitchen. His parents sat there, agog.

"He's _our_ son, Brennan." Phoebe smirked, "It's going to take a lot more than his mother making an attempt on his life to emotionally scar him."

* * *

As the day wore on, the last few hours of sunlight were enough to burn away the clouds entirely. By night, the sky was once again the epitome of why living in the country was a good thing: not a dark, looming shadow over the snowy hills, but instead it was a midnight blue canvas brought alive by countless stars. As Phoebe sat out on the porch, gloved hands around a cup of hot chocolate, she found it difficult to think of one reason why she could have ever wanted to back to the noisy city of San Francisco after living here.

There was one reason she could think of, but it was damaged. She hoped she could repair it again.

The door creaked open next to her, giving the middle Charmed One a brief taste of the heat from inside the house before it was closed again and Jordann appeared beside her, looking out at the night sky as she stretched her arms over her head, groaning as she did so. The hare feral was still in her pyjamas; a thick woolly dressing gown protected her from the cold.

"Good morning!" Phoebe said cheerfully, "I was starting to wonder if you'd actually ever wake up."

Jordann turned to her, "Brennan told me some nonsense about us all nearly sleeping for two days. That's not true, is it?"

"Not for anyone but you." Phoebe snorted, "We all woke up this afternoon; you're a little late to the party." Jordann shook her head in disbelief as she made her way to the steps at the front of the porch, gazing up at the bright night sky. "Don't worry about it. I think, out of all of us, you were the one who needed to sleep the most."

She turned around to face the witch, looking embarrassed, "You heard about me not sleeping, I take it?"

"It's hardly some big secret." The middle Charmed One replied, "I mean, we've all been getting only a few hours each night, but I didn't know you were just _not_ sleeping. I can't _believe_ I let you drive the other night. And I have absolutely no idea where you found the energy to vanquish the queen of the harpies. Weren't you exhausted?"

"Not really."

Phoebe knew she was lying. She knew it from what she had felt radiating off her days ago, she knew from the way she was now avoiding eye contact with her, and she knew it simply because she knew Jordann. There was no point in making an issue out of it now though. It was over, as where the feelings that had caused the hare feral such unrest in the first place.

"When we got back to the house after the whole ordeal, I didn't actually get a chance to thank you for everything you did."

"Oh, it was no-,"

"Don't you dare say it wasn't a big deal." Phoebe cut her off sharply, "You saved my children from an entire nest of harpies. They wouldn't be alive right now if you hadn't thought as quickly as you did. I pretty much owe you for life now." The witch's eyes bored into the other women as she spoke; Jordann's body language once again telling Phoebe that she was not comfortable with this praise, but was accepting it reluctantly.

Jordann smiled, "I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat... Okay, maybe not the whole decapitation thing, but that thing was never going to touch those kids. It was _not_ a possibility."

Phoebe smiled back, "I don't know what we'd do without you. Thank you."

The feral's face reddened for a brief second before the bitter cold robbed it of any warmth. She shivered, hugging her body and leaning against one of the porch's support beams, "I can't take all the credit. That spell I cast would not have worked without whatever Ryan was. I could feel it as we cast it; his power did most of the heavy lifting, it was incredible." Jordann looked distant for a moment, staring at the ground. "What _was_ he?"

"Good question." Phoebe responded, apprehension in her voice, "Brennan pretty much told me what you just said. He vanquished about a thousand demons down there, he injured the Source and threatened to do a whole lot worse. He's also the one who dropped us back off in the house." She too looked distant for a moment, looking out onto the moonlit plain in front of the house, "_So much_ light, as well. Incredible really is the right word."

"Is he good?"

"Apparently. Although he wasn't too keen on saving me."

Jordann shrugged, "I guess it's just one of those things we'll never know." She suddenly let out a squeal and shivered violently, "That's it! I'm going inside, it's too cold." She made her way to the front door, "You coming?"

"Nah, I'm enjoying the fresh air."

The feral arched one of her eyebrows, "And you had the nerve to imply _I_ was crazy. Suit yourself!" She was nearly inside before she paused, "You know… I'd kind of like to see him again. Ryan, I mean, not the one-man SWAT team that took over him. I think he was a good kid; just confused as Hell."

Another moment of heat from the inside and she was gone, leaving the middle Charmed One to her thoughts once more. Phoebe took a deep breath of the cold air, letting it send a chill through her head and all through her body. She had not been lying when she said she was out here for the fresh air. Freezing it may have been, but it was not filled with snow for a change. It gave her a familiar clarity, although she could not remember when she had felt this feeling before, like the sensory memory was there and nothing else.

"That's not very good. It looks nothing like a person."

Phoebe jumped. Ryan stood in the same spot Jordann had occupied a moment ago, casually leaning against the same support beam with his back to her. The witch calmed her shaking hands and put her now-cool hot chocolate on the ground. He seemed to be looking at a snowman Connor and Faith had built a few hours ago before the sun went down.

"It was made with snow by two children. Not exactly Michelangelo's David." She responded calmly.

Ryan shrugged and turned to face her, "I suppose."

_Everything_ seemed different about him. To someone who had never seen the boy before, they would be no change, but to Phoebe, who had seen the angry young man who hid behind his hair and shrunk into a hoodie far too large for him, it was such a stark change it barely seemed like the same person. He stood up straight, revealing a height and broad shoulders that Phoebe had not noticed before. It made him seem more confident and more imposing a figure at same time. Brilliant blue eyes twinkled with amusement, shining also with something entirely unnatural. The awkward teenager was gone, and something with the self assuredness of an ancient being had taken his place. She was instantly on edge.

"What are you doing here?"

"You have questions." Ryan replied, as if it was obvious, "I am here to answer them."

The obvious one, "What are you? I mean, you're certainly not a teenage boy struggling with the power of intuition. You're not a witch, not a whitelighter, and you're not a demon… So where exactly do you fit into this whole thing?"

Ryan surveyed her calmly for a few moments, as if she was this curious little puzzle that he could not solve. Phoebe trembled under his stare before he turned away from her and looked up at the night sky that bustled with activity.

"A star is quite a sad little thing, isn't it?" He asked, knowing there was no answer, "They burn so brilliantly, brighter than _anything_ in this world, but by the time their light is noticed… they have died, and the space they occupied is dark forever." The teenager turned back to her and she recoiled slightly, "What if I were to tell you I was a star, and that I have been burning forever and so much brighter than anything in your sky?"

"I'd say that it's a pretty poetic way of dodging my question." Phoebe responded humourlessly.

Ryan grinned, "What I am is extremely complicated. Literally, I am a being of light and fire that would destroy you simply by being close to you. But… the closest thing to any lore of your world would be a seraph, the highest of all angels."

Phoebe's heart stopped cold.

"Your family has come across my kind before, which is a feat considering there are only four of us. Your younger sister is married to one of my brothers, and your eldest niece, she…" He paused, a brief flicker of annoyance showing over his resolute features, "She _summoned_ one of my brothers to her side, managed to pluck him from our world and we still do not know how. We-,"

"Hold on!" Phoebe snapped, raising her hand, "I'm still on what you said a few pages back. Aidan… is an _angel_?" She asked in an incredulous whisper, "Does Paige even know?"

"He does not even know." Ryan replied, "We each have our different purposes, different pillars. The body, the heart, the mind, and the eyes. Aidan is the heart. He represents everything that humanity is and the power that lies there; the good and the bad. He would not be able to be such a totem if he was aware of it. His ability to feel flows through us all. It is the reason I saved you in the Deep Underworld, despite the fact you were not worth saving until the very last minute."

"Guilty conscience?" Phoebe snarled, before returning to her confused state, "And you said Pam had summoned one of you? How did she even do that?"

"The only reason she's alive is because of Aidan. That gives her a connection to us. It is a faint connection, but it is what it is… When it happened, she was lost in her own despair; the lowest a human can feel and in a second of absolute desperation, she was able to summon her own redemption." For another moment, Ryan looked absolutely furious. "She _tainted_ him, made him feel more than is allowed. He is the mind! He is _logic_, not emotion. Our different qualities have been bleeding into each other more than ever since then."

"In that case, I'm incredibly proud of her." Phoebe smirked, "Well, three guesses which one you're meant to be. I mean, you certainly don't _see_ a damn thing-,"

"I am the body, correct." Ryan cut her off, eyes narrowed, "I am the righteous fist of the seraph; I'm an army unto myself. I move where my brothers cannot as I have the form to-,"

"Yeah, I get it; you're the badass of the bunch." The middle Charmed One spat, "What does this have to do with stopping the Source getting the Devil's Eye?"

Again, annoyance crossed Ryan's face and Phoebe suddenly remembered what she was dealing with here. An angel. The closest thing to the top she had ever come across. It was just her luck that while other members of her family had met the more docile type of this creature, she had to tangle with the one who seemed to be ready to smite her at a moment's notice. She remembered to watch her mouth for the rest of the conversation.

"We only step in if there is truly no other option." Ryan said gravely, "The Devil's Eye is something that, in the hands of the Sources, could split apart the universe. The only thing that could have stopped him, apart from us, is you and your sisters." He quirked his head slightly, "But that, of course, was not a viable option. We had no other choice."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He replied instantly, new warmth in his tone, "You did our work for far longer than any human should have to. You and your family deserve this peace."

Phoebe returned his kindness with a small smile. "Thank you." She chuckled lightly, "You know, it's strange. Before tonight, all I had gotten out of your mouth was surly grunts and backtalk in my office. It'll strange to go back to that."

"You won't be. Ryan will not be returning."

It turned out that Phoebe would not watch her mouth for the rest of the conversation, after all.

"What?" She breathed, "Can't you just let him go? He was just your vessel! You don't need him anymore, just let him go back to the way he was. His parents will be worried sick about him by now! You can't just take him away."

Ryan narrowed his eyes, disbelieving, "Have you not figured it out yet, Phoebe? Ryan _has_ no parents. He has only been alive for two weeks. He was created solely for this mission; he has no purpose now. Did it never occur to you during all those meetings in your office about his behaviour, you never once saw him with any kind of family member?"

"What are you _talking_ about?"

He let out a sigh, not understanding her outrage and confusion, "We could not destroy the Devil's Eye until the Source had summoned it. We knew what his summoning would involve, so we lay a trap." The angel smirked, revelling in his own inhuman ingenuity, "The Source needed you to be turned by the seed of Hecate's Blossom but could not send any of his demons after you, so we gave him the perfect instrument: a self-loathing teenage boy who would do anything to fit in, even poison the only person showing him kindness in a new school. I was to remain dormant until Devil's Eye was summoned, but things unravelled a little sooner than expected." He frowned, sensing the witch's fury, "Phoebe, Ryan was made to tempted, and he was made to fall. He served no other purpose. He was a pawn in a greater scheme; never human. Not even a life."

"Not even a _life_?" Phoebe rose to her feet, the cold long forgotten as anger flooded her, "The hell he wasn't! He spoke, he smiled, he laughed, he cried, he bled, he got angry, he got scared… You didn't make some… _thing_ out of clay or stone, you made a human being!"

"He never even had a soul, Phoebe. The quintessential human quality."

"Then how do you explain him helping to save my children?" She countered, "If he was just programmed to be a thoughtless drone used by you and the Source, if he was just meant to be _weak_ and susceptible to evil, where did that sudden burst of conscience and courage come from? What made him stay and help Jordann when everything told him he was going to die on that kitchen floor?" She let out a hallow laugh, sneering, "Isn't that also when he short-circuited and you had to take over? Maybe he _earned_ a soul. Maybe that freaked you out so much because you're nothing but a heartless _cannon_ being told where to point and fire!"

"Careful." Ryan hissed, baring his teeth. It was in that moment Phoebe realised the heat she was feeling was actually coming from him. The air was electric with his rage. Like his anger had taken on a physical form and was boiling the air around him. "I am _far_ more than a cannon, you-,"

"I want to speak to him."

"No."

"Yes!" The middle Charmed One screamed back. "Let me speak to him. I want to speak to Ryan right now!" A tense silence filled the air, and Phoebe could hear noise from behind her front door as the people inside rushed to see what the noise outside was, "Do it! I want to see him!"

"Very well."

In an instant, Brennan and Jordann were standing in the doorway looking at Ryan in shock as he took one massive stride towards Phoebe, roughly grabbed her arm with one hand and placed his other hand against her forehead. She gasped, first out of the pain in being gripped so tightly, and then from the premonition she was thrown into from his touch.

_The only reason she could see was because of the bright moonlight in the clear sky. Otherwise, it would be pitch black. There was a bridge that she recognised; one they all had to cross every day to go into town. Strong, sturdy, and normally deserted, Phoebe would always remember taking the kids down to it when they first moved up here to throw stones into the river that was far below. It flowed fast; the din of rushing water quieter from their height and even quieter when their surroundings were covered in the snow._

_Her view changed abruptly and her heart jumped into her throat as she saw a pair of feet shakily get on the ledge of the bridge. Ryan, tears streaming down his face, wavered dangerously on the edge with a hand holding loosely to a support beam next to him. There was no delay, no second thoughts, just a final sob before he threw himself off the side…_

"If you can save him, he has a soul. If not…"

And he was gone.

* * *

"How is this even possible? I thought they were the same person."

"I don't know. The seraph said he was gone forever but… things changed."

"But why? What does he have to gain?"

"I don't know."

"And why would Ryan want to kill himself?"

"I… don't know."

"What are you going to do? Use your powers? A spell? What-?"

"_I don't know!_" Phoebe shouted, her head snapping around to face Jordann who simply pursed her lips tightly and kept her eyes on the road. The middle Charmed One let out a frustrated sigh and run a hand through her hair, "Look, I'm sorry. I have no idea what I'm going to do. My powers didn't work on him a few days ago but that could have all changed, but messing with his mind when he's in this state could just make things worse. I don't know." She repeated, "Please, just drive faster."

"I'm going as fast as I can without going off the road. We'll be there in seconds."

As they turned the final bend onto the bridge, the car's headlights illuminated the whole scene. Ryan was already on the edge, not even bothering to turn around at the sudden intrusion. Phoebe's door was open before the car had even come to a complete stop. She did not even stop to close it as she rushed to him.

"Ryan!"

He did not answer. The wind around them picked up, causing Phoebe's hair to fly wildly around her face and Ryan to sway dangerously on the narrow ledge he was standing on.

"Are you here to watch?" He asked, voice hollow of emotion.

She called out again, slowly edging closer, "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what was meant to happen!" The teenager shouted back over his shoulder in a poisonous tone, "I wasn't even meant to last this long, was I? I don't know why that angel didn't just kill me."

Phoebe's heart sank as she finally understood. The seraph had done what she asked and brought Ryan back, but as a consequence he had learned everything about his creation, his purpose, and how every single memory in his head was an illusion. He remembered a mother that had never existed, a home that had never been built, and emotions that had never been felt. The middle Charmed One's eyes began to grow watery at this revelation.

"Ryan, I-,"

"I can't even figure it out in my head properly, you know?" He spoke as if they were back in Phoebe's office, not as if he was about to throw himself off a bridge. "I've never really had any friends and I've always felt so lonely, but when I came to a new school, I thought it could be a fresh start. I wouldn't be the weird kid that had headaches and fits in class. I'd _control_ it this time. I'd find a way to stop my power affecting my life." He looked over and gave her a smile that was void of any joy, "But I guess it's that kind of fake memory that built me up to be the perfect target that I was."

"Ryan…" Phoebe begged breathlessly, "Please, _don't_ do this."

"It's not as if this even affects anyone." He replied calmly, "I don't have a family, I don't have any friends. I have absolutely no connections. No one cares."

"I care!" The middle Charmed One shouted.

"_Now_ you care." He snarled, "Where was that empathy every time I was sent to your office? How could you not have _known_? Isn't this your life?"

"You poisoned me with something that took my feelings away. What were you expecting from me?" Phoebe snapped back almost by reflex, before reigning herself in when she felt Jordann's supportive hand on her arm, "Look, that doesn't matter now. Nothing about what happened over the last few days matters. What matters is that this, right now, is the wrong thing to do. It is _never_ the right answer."

"You're afraid." Jordann suddenly interjected, moving closer than Phoebe had dared to, "You think you're evil and that since you were designed to be a certain way, you can't be any other. Am I right?"

He turned around to look at the feral, eyes full of tears and sadness, "I'll never be anything better. I can't be…"

"You don't think facing down an entire nest of harpies with me is better? You don't think staying to save others at the potential expense of your own life is better? That seems to go against the weak-willed, spineless pawn you were supposedly _designed_ to be. Hell, you're about to kill yourself because you think you're evil! Is _that_ the action of an evil person?"

Phoebe gasped just as her companion finished speaking. She had been keeping herself open to sensing Ryan's emotions the moment she jumped out the car, only getting the dull throb of absolute despair in her gut as her reward. But now, as Jordann spoke, she sensed something different. It was only for a second; but it was unmistakable. A spark of hope. The middle Charmed One stepped even closer.

"You keep saying that nothing to do with you is real," She began, "But that's not true at all. You're real; you're standing right in front of me. Your memories are real. They may not have happened, but they are what have shaped you into the person you are right now. Any kind of happiness or trauma that you remember has shaped the person you are! You told me you were lonely; you even said that's what has made you into what you are. That's real. You sat in my office three times a week. That was real. You nearly got killed by harpies on a basketball court. That was real. You saved my children's lives_. That was real_."

She felt that spark again and Phoebe's heart _blazed_ in her chest, setting her whole body alight with hope.

"I don't have _anything_." He murmured again, looking lonelier than ever. "I don't even have a _soul_."

Phoebe scowled with a mixture of rage and determination. She was furious at the angel who had created the boy in front of her, and was hell-bent on saving him. She took her final step forward. If she was quick, she could probably tackle his legs and bring him to safety. But she did not.

"You have a soul." She said firmly, "And you have me, and Jordann. But we can't help you unless you come down from there." The witch smiled slightly, looking upwards. "Over the past few days, I've had so many things and people say that I'm good and I'm evil, but at the end of the day, I really don't have a clue what I am, which gives you and I something in common." She held out her hand, not even trying to disguise the fact that it was trembling, "How about we try and figure it out together?"

She could feel Jordann practically vibrating with energy behind her, ready to move into action the moment it was required, and she could feel Ryan's overwhelming hesitation about what to do. There was another strong gust of wind and the two women thrummed even more with terror when the teenager swayed again. He looked between their faces with his tearful eyes, and looked down at the river flowing far below him.

The instant he took Phoebe's hand, she pulled him into the tightest hug possible and did not let go.

* * *

"I'm exhausted."

Brennan looked up from staring into the fireplace as Phoebe came down the stairs. She sat down next to him, hands on her knees, looking out of the window with wide eyes, completely stunned at what had happened over the last few days. He did not immediately move to comfort her; he knew that that was not what she was seeking right now.

"Is he asleep?"

She nodded, "I put a crystal under the bed that should alert us to any funny business, but I don't think there will be any." She sighed, eyes finally drooping, "Did I mention I'm exhausted?"

It was now that Brennan simply outstretched his arm and his wife fell against his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rested his head on hers, gently running his hand up and down her arm.

"I was hoping we would have a few more years before we had to deal with a teenager." Brennan smirked into her hair, "But it is what it is."

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled lowly, "Phoebe, you pretty much brought home a third kid. Did it seriously not cross your mind?"

The middle Charmed One frowned, "I… honestly hadn't thought of it that way. I was just thinking about getting him off that bridge and back here where we could help him. But you're right. Wow… We're going to need to redo the spare room, explain it to Connor and Faith, not to mention get all the proper paperwork from _nowhere_. It's going to take magic and…" She put a hand on her husband's knee, "How do you feel about this?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out the moment you walked in the door with him." The mutant admitted, "It's not going to be easy. He may not have a family, but he remembers having one, and we don't know if he still has powers, and he has a whole load of _other_ issues outside of those that'll make things a seriously bumpy ride for a while, but…" He gently rested the side of his head against hers, "When a kid made by angels drops out of the sky and has no one else but you, you can't help but feel responsible… So I'm okay with it. It's going to be hard, but I think we can deal."

"I'm going to call my sisters tomorrow. We're going to need all the help we can get and it's time we put that silly argument to bed."

"Good call." Brennan said, letting his head fall back on the sofa to stare at the ceiling, "You'll probably find that they want to make up just as much as you do. And if anything's going to bring them around, it's this." There were a few moments of silence as he composed what to say, "You know… It's weird that I feel calm about this whole thing, because I think we're signing a contract without reading the fine print and things could get messy, but… I think I'm a little excited. Scared too, but still. It feels like another adventure, doesn't it?"

No response.

"…Phoebe?"

She was fast asleep.

* * *

_That was fun, wasn't it?_

_Piper's story will be last ever. It will be called Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun._

_"The first thing you need to learn about dying is that it's horrible to go through alone."_


End file.
